Hanna Szczepanowska, currently an Assistant Professor at WVU, is a Material Scientist specializing in the analysis of cultural heritage material and Physical Scientist at the US Treasury, BEP. Hanna received her PhD from the University in Lyon, France, in Material Science, and MS in Conservation of Paper, Parchment and Leather, from the University of Nicolaus Copernicus, Torun, Poland. During her recent 4-year post in Singapore, as a Senior Conservation Scientist, she established an analytical laboratory and research program for the National Heritage Board staff. She has worked over a decade at the Smithsonian Institution and was an Adjunct Professor at George Washington University, Washington DC. Hanna obtained two Fulbright scholarships to Egypt and Malta, assisting the ministries of education in both countries with designing preservation strategies for their cultural heritage.

The biodeterioration of paper has been Hanna’s main research area for many years, with the results published in scientific and conservation journals.