Catharine Hawks is an objects conservator with a focus on natural history collections. Before becoming the museum conservator for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), she was in private practice for 20 years, working with over 100 institutional clients in the U.S. and abroad.  She has overseen or  coordinated the work of numerous museum studies and conservation interns, other conservators, and museum staff; treated hundreds of objects and specimens; worked on exhibitions; conducted various risk assessments; developed emergency management plans and aided in emergency salvage and response; consulted on construction/renovation projects; developed collection storage designs; taught workshops and courses; negotiated with suppliers on development and testing of products; served on boards and committees of professional organizations; and wrote or edited papers and texts on conservation and related topics.  At the NMNH, she coordinates conservation services throughout the museum, working with building management, collections and exhibitions staff as well as health and safety professionals. + She is a Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation, a Professional Associate and former member of the Board of Directors of the American Institute for Conservation, and lead editor for the text, Health and Safety for Museum Professionals.

Article

• Falquero, Kelsey, Hawks, Catharine, Hull-Walski, Deborah, Makos, Kathryn, and Palmer, Lisa. 2023. "Can't Touch That: Safety, Preservation, and Collection Management Assessments of an Education Collection." Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1177/15501906231164476. 2023
• Hawks, Catharine, Kennedy, Tara D., Makos, Kathryn, Marigza, Anne, Miller, Melissa, and Snell, Samantha. 2023. "Focus Issue: Safety and Cultural Heritage Summit: A Review of Hazard Identification and Risk Mitigation 2016–2021." Collections: A Journal for Museum and Archives Professionals, https://doi.org/10.1177/15501906231167576. 2023
• Kaczkowski, Rebecca A., Makos, Kathryn A., Hawks, Catharine, and Hunt, Michael. 2017. "Investigation of Residual Contamination Inside Storage Cabinets: Collection Care Benefits from an Industrial Hygiene Study." Journal of the American Institute for Conservation, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/01971360.2017.1326242. 2017
• Szczepanowska, Hanna, Shockley, Floyd W., Furth, David George, Gentili, Patricia, Bell, Darnell, DePriest, Paula T., Mecklenburg, Marion F., and Hawks, Catharine A. 2013. "Effectiveness of entomological collection storage cabinets in maintaining stable relative humidity in a historic museum building." Collection Forum, 27, (1-2) 43–53. 2013

Chapter

• Bechtol, Nancy, Tompkins, William, Button, Kerry, Hawks, Catharine A., and Charola, A. Elena. 2014. "Conclusions and Recommendations." In Unexpected-Earthquake 2011: Lessons to Be Learned. Charola, A. Elena, Wegener, Corine, and Koestler, Robert J., editors. 97–100. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press. In Smithsonian Contributions to Museum Conservation; No. 4. 2014

Information Content Entity

• Wagner, Katharine C., Graham, Stephan C., Gregg, Elania, Hawks, Catharine, Kowalsky, Julie, Makos, Kathryn, Satrum, Eugene, and Stewart, Jane S. 2023. "White Paper: Cultural Heritage Emergency Preparedness and Response: Guidelines for the OEHS Professional." 1–49. 2023