Katherine Curran

Katherine Curran is an Associate Professor at University College London's Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources, where she serves at the Institute for Sustainable Heritage. She joined UCL as a Research Associate in November 2011, was appointed Lecturer in Sustainable Heritage in 2013, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2019. Currently, she serves as Deputy Programme Lead for the MSc in Sustainable Heritage and leads modules on sustainable heritage management and heritage science.

Her educational background includes a PhD in polymer chemistry (2009) and a BSc in Chemistry (2004), both from University College Dublin. She also held a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2010-2011.

Dr. Curran's research focuses on the conservation of modern cultural heritage materials, particularly polymer chemistry and degradation processes. Her work examines volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from historic objects, the degradation of plastics in heritage collections, material-environment interactions, and condition assessment methodologies. She employs analytical techniques including SPME-GC/MS, portable mass spectrometry, and FTIR/NIR spectroscopies in her research.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a consistent focus on cellulose acetate degradation, plasticizer migration modeling, sustainable archival practices, and the conservation of modern polymeric materials. Her work increasingly integrates system dynamics approaches to model degradation processes and explores practical applications for museum conservation.

• Research Capital Investment Fund (2021)
• Research Capital Investment Fund award (2018)

Dr. Curran serves as Principal Investigator for the ERC Starting Grant funded project "COMPLEX: The Degradation of Complex Modern Polymeric Objects in Heritage Collections: A System Dynamics Approach" and previously worked on the AHRC/EPSRC Science & Heritage Programme project "Heritage Smells." She supervises multiple PhD researchers focusing on plastic degradation in heritage collections, with research topics including photodegradation of plastic artifacts and plasticizer loss dynamics. Her work has significant practical applications for museums, archives, and conservation professionals worldwide.

Her research extends to practical applications through projects like the Greening Archives initiative, which addresses sustainable storage solutions for photographic materials, and studies on protest inflatables like the Trump Baby Blimp. She actively collaborates with institutions including the Science Museum Group and participates in professional activities through the Royal Society of Chemistry Heritage Science Expert Working Group.