26 January. ICCROM is pleased to welcome Dr Fernanda Prestileo of Italy, who has been seconded by the Sicilian government as Laboratory Coordinator for two years.

Dr Prestileo holds a Masters degree in Conservation of Cultural Heritage and a PhD in Environmental Sciences, both from the Università degli Studi della Tuscia in Viterbo, Italy. Her main research interests are indoor decay processes of objects and their constituent materials, approaches to non-destructive investigation, and microclimatic monitoring techniques for displays.

Since 2003, she has been working at the Laboratory of Physics and Environmental Problems in Enclosed Areas, Centro Regionale per la Progettazione e il Restauro e per le Scienze Naturali ed Applicate ai Beni Culturali (CRPR), Assessorato dei Beni Culturali e dell'Identità Siciliana, of the Region of Sicily. As a result, Dr Prestileo has been involved in various environmental monitoring projects in Sicily and other regions of Italy. She has written several articles on topics such as diagnosis using non-destructive analysis, microclimatic monitoring, preventive conservation, preservation and promotion of cultural heritage, and university training in the heritage field. She is also regularly involved with training in Italian university programmes and workshops for mid-career professionals.

Dr Prestileo is well known to ICCROM, having participated in two courses: “Preventive Conservation: reducing risk to collections” (2005) and “Diagnostic Imaging and Photo-documentation of archaeological and cultural materials” (2007).

ICCROM is thankful to Italy and to the Region of Sicily for this generous in-kind contribution.

Member State represented: Italy

updated on: 26 January, 2011