As someone with deeply held interests in art, science, and art history, Gretchen was immediately drawn to Scripps College by the Art Conservation program. During her time at Scripps, she explored the field of conservation through internships at the Huntington Library and Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery, and through a summer spent studying painting conservation in Florence at SACI. She graduated from Scripps with an Art Conservation major and Studio Art minor, and completed her thesis on the execution and material longevity of William Morris’s Kelmscott Chaucer.
Gretchen then moved to London and completed her master’s degree in Book Conservation at Camberwell College of Art (University of the Arts, London). During her time in London she completed internships at the London Library, Lambeth Palace, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, and completed her thesis on the conservation of books with historical bomb damage from the London Blitz. Upon graduating, she worked for the National Conservation Service before accepting a position on the Collection Care team at the Cambridge University Library. In addition to her work in conservation, Gretchen also works as a freelance illustrator. She lives in Cambridge, U.K.