Heidi Swierenga, Ruggles Award Recipient 2024

Heidi Swierenga is Senior Conservator and Head of the Collections Care, Management and Access Department at the Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver, British Columbia. She is also an associate in the Department of Anthropology, UBC. Her practice focuses on the use and activation of Indigenous belongings that are held in collections and the role that the conservation profession plays in facilitating these activities.

Heidi teaches conservation theory and practice at the University of British Columbia and has supported and learned from many, many, national and international conservation interns over the past two decades. She has also been the co-instigator on some useful initiatives including the British Columbia Heritage Emergency Response Network (BC HERN), The Indigenous Internship Program, and the Wet Site Organics Preservation Partnership.