Rachel Freer-Waters is a costume, upholstery, composite objects conservator, and fiber analyst, awarded Professional Member status with the American Institute for Conservation in 2010. She holds an MS in textile science & conservation which was followed by a Mellon Foundation internship in objects and textile conservation at the Smithsonian Institution and a post-graduate Kress Fellowship at the University of Arizona's Arizona State Museum to work with both objects and fiber-based collections. Additionally, she holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she studied historic painting materials and techniques, chemistry of painting, chemistry of photography, and art history. For multiple years, she served as the primary conservator at the Musical Instrument Museum, originally working on costumes and ethnographic objects, and received training on conserving musical instruments. She is currently in private practice and does preventive care and emergency planning for cultural institutions in addition to conservation treatment, and splits her time between Texas and Colorado.