Dr. Jocelyn Alcántara-García (she/her/ella​) joined the University of Delaware in the fall of 2014 after working for about five years in interdisciplinary projects – predominantly in Mexico, where she was born. All projects were conducted in close collaboration with conservators and scientists, and included the examination of iron gall inks, Pre-Columbian organic materials, mural paintings, and seashells. In addition, she led research into the degradation of conservation and restoration materials, as well as the development of alternative methodologies for paper stabilization.

Jocelyn studied Conservation for two years at the National School of Conservation, Restoration and Museography (ENCRyM) and received a B. S. and a Ph. D. in (Inorganic) Chemistry from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Prior to joining UD, she was at the Brno University of Technology in the Czech Republic (VUT, internship in polymers), the National Museum of Contemporary Art Reina Sofia (MNCARSconservation science fellow, Spanish Ministry of Culture), and completed postdoctoral research at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) as an Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow.  Jocelyn is both a Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Xi member.

​​​Her research interests revolve around material culture and are divided into three broad categories, all involving textiles and/or archival materials: (1) forensic analysis; (2) reverse engineering and degradation mechanisms; and (3) innovative approaches to nondestructively study cultural heritage. In addition, she is active in creating new pedagogies to attract and retain people to STEM fields. You can find her at the Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library with WUDPAC students and doing research; in Old College with ARTC undergrads; and in Lamont DuPont/Brown/Drake with students from Chemistry and Biochemistry.

You can find her TEDx talk on the YouTube TEDx channel, and her research on Google Scholar, Research Gate, and ORCID.​​