John D. Childs has over 30 years of experience working in museums and archives. Since completing his master’s degree in conservation at Winterthur, John has worked at museums in New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and the Boston area, including Historic New England, the 9/11 Museum, and now the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM). John is currently Director of Collections at PEM, overseeing collection services, the library, exhibition planning, exhibition design and historic house management. Throughout his career, John has worked with diverse collections, including historic interiors, objects, and archives. He has managed exhibition installations, supervised collections moves and established collections storage facilities and conservation labs. He has focused broadly on aligning collections care with access and ensuring that collections have the maximum impact while maintaining physical integrity. He has also been an adjunct professor in the Columbia Historic Preservation Program and a lecturer in the NYU Conservation Program.