Julia Commander

I am a third-year graduate fellow in the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation. With a specific focus on objects and preventive conservation, I have worked with archaeological collections in museums and in the field. As a conservation student, I am particularly interested in the synthesis of practical treatment decisions and ethical goals. My perspective on this project will concentrate on issues of preservation, storage, and access.

Isis Dwyer

Allie McCoskey

I’m a senior double majoring in Near Eastern Studies and Archaeology, with a minor in Museums and Society. My focus is on the archaeology and material culture of Egypt, especially in the Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom periods. I’ve had the opportunity to participate in fieldwork in Egypt and Turkey where I have been able to excavate burials.

Jordan Poston

I am a sophomore in the class of 2019. I am an Earth and Planetary major and I am minoring in Museums and Society. I have had a deep fascination with ancient Egypt since I was a child and this childhood love is what drew me to this project. I am very excited to work on the creative aspect of this project; my goal is to incorporate photography into this project. I hope to gain a new perspective on ancient Egyptian practices, specifically mummification, through this process and am excited to see what we learn.

Thaara Sumithra Shankar

I am a junior majoring in the History of Art and minoring in Classics and Museums and Society. I am currently an Education Assistant at the Walters Art Museum, and have previously interned at the Met Cloisters and the Whitney Museum of American Art. I was interested in exploring the collection and learning practical skills about making exhibitions. I have enjoyed re-tracing these individuals’ lives and exploring the scientific processes involved.

Meg Swaney

I am a graduate student in Egyptian Art and Archaeology at Johns Hopkins University. I am interested in bioarchaeology, and I work with the human remains excavated at the university’s dig at Mut Temple in Luxor, Egypt. I have a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in museum studies. For my master’s research, I looked at the ethics of displaying Egyptian mummies in American museums. I was particularly interested in assessing how the use of CT scans and forensic facial reconstructions as in-gallery interpretive aids might facilitate more meaningful and respectful interactions between museum visitors and Egyptian mummies.  My interest in this project is an extension of my previous work and stems from a desire to restore individual identities to Egypt’s ancient dead.

Alex Taylor

I am a junior double majoring in Chemistry and Archaeology at JHU. As a freshman, I took a course on Cypriot Archaeology, fell in love, and never looked back. Outside of archaeology, I have research experience in gilded silver conservation and organic photochromic polymer synthesis. My interest lies in approaching art through a scientific lens – the two aren’t all that different sometimes! This project excites me because it is a great opportunity to use both science and art to answer a pretty unique question.