William Bennett completed an MA as well as postgraduate and graduate diplomas in books at West Dean. Prior to beginning his studies in conservation, William worked for a year in the Collections Care Section of the Preservation Directorate at the Library of Congress, treating general collections volumes from 1800 and forward. An earlier volunteer position in the Library's Preservation Research and Testing Division, working with paper chemist William Barrow's sample collection, was his first taste of professional conservation. William obtained his BA in English with minors in French and Editing from Brigham Young University.

Kenneth Cobb: Ken completed an MA as well as postgraduate and graduate diplomas in clocks at West Dean, with his studies leading to a career as an accredited clock conservator. Ken is a Chartered Engineer and has worked in industry for past 35 years. He lives in East Anglia, where he intends to work when he completes his studies.

Andrew Hooper finished a diploma in the Conservation and Restoration of Clocks. This period of formal study follows three years part-time work as an apprentice clockmaker, restoring old clocks and making new clocks with Malcolm Archer. Andrew has a particular interest in early 20th Century English master clocks, precision timekeeping and how clocks helped co-ordinate society. Prior to taking up clockmaking Andrew worked as a chemical engineer in the nuclear industry. He has a BSc in Chemical Engineering, an MBA and is also a Director of The Clock Trust, an educational centre based in West Sussex.

Sibel Ergener completed an MA as well as postgraduate and graduate diplomas in books at West Dean. Before attending West Dean, she had no experience with book conservation. She graduated with a BFA in Fine Art from Carnegie Mellon University prior to attending West Dean, and her paintings can be viewed at http://sibelergener.com.

Laurie Price completed an MA as well as postgraduate and graduate diplomas in metals at West Dean. She completed a BA degree in Three Dimensional Design, starting with the mediums of ceramics, glass and metals and developing a fondness for metalwork. In particular, Laurie likes blacksmithing and forge work, inspired by botanical forms discovered whilst working for the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley gardens. Prior to starting at West Dean she has had no experience of dealing with metal conservation.

Manami Shinagawa did a Professional Development Diploma in Conservation in 2012-13, and completed a West Dean Diploma in 2011-12 (furniture). Prior to study here she had no experience of making and conservation of furniture. She has a BA in Interior Architectural Design from Tokyo Zokei University in Japan.

Gijs van Dorp finished postgraduate and graduate diplomas in furniture conservation at West Dean. Prior to this he studied furniture making in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He also completed a BSc degree in Physics at Leiden University.

Mariko Watanabe completed an MA as well as postgraduate and graduate diplomas in books and library materials at West Dean. Prior to West Dean she worked for one year as an assistant conservator at Book and Archive Conservation Services, a privately-run conservation studio in Edinburgh, and as a volunteer paper conservator on the Carmichael-Watson project at the Edinburgh University Library conservation studio. While she was in Edinburgh, she regularly took private bookbinding lessons. Mariko has BA and MA degrees in Greek Classics from the International Christian University, Tokyo, and MSc degrees in Book History from the University of Edinburgh. She intends to be a bridge between Western culture and the one in the area where she comes from in Japan for the further development of conservation.

Chie Yoshii completed an MA as well as postgraduate and graduate diplomas in ceramics at West Dean. She has BA and MA of Fine Art from Tama Art University, Tokyo. After she had some experience of conservation in Japan, she found interest in Ceramic conservation, then she started to study conservation at West Dean