WiFi is a Problem We've laid out a pretty good case for why WiFi isn't a great solution for conservation-focused environmental monitoring. If you haven't got a chance to read the article yet, here's the summary. Collection spaces are large and WiFi coverage is difficult. No surprise there, but what's the solution for collections that want to remove all the hassle from their environmental monitoring and use wireless?

This post is meant to capture a moment in time. Today. Our launch party. How did we get here, what have we built, where are we going?

What is Conservation?  To truly understand why conservation is important, we have to take a step back and talk about what conservation actually is. 

Austin has been caught between the hard science of numbers and the soft science of human decision making for his entire career. It started early with math team, moved to a degree in Sociology, and ended up here at Conserv empowering conservation professionals to do more with data.

Let's start with something controversial, environmental data collected from data loggers or sensors is pretty useless by itself. What's valuable is the ability to interpret the data and take some action to create environments that support the longevity of cultural objects.  That interpretation is handled by the software and by people working together to create a stable environment. Sensors are just the start.

Nathan has always been fascinated by history, and especially by the artifacts that mark milestones in our past.  He grew up in Michigan, close to Detroit, the eldest child in a family that was closely connected to the auto industry.

Conservation professionals are quiet heroes. Every day, all over the world, millions of conservation professionals spend their days taking care of art and cultural collections. Many of these people have the title conservator, most don't. It's a diverse group in terms of background, experience, title, and skill level.

Sustainability matters. Conserv is on a mission to help preserve our shared cultural heritage for future generations. Part of that mission involves creating a sustainable business model where we can serve our customers well and profitably while also limiting our environmental impact. A business model with sensor hardware has the potential to create a negative environmental impact, and we have some ideas on how to overcome the challenge.

There's a reason why your collection doesn't have wireless sensors for environmental monitoring We’ve spent a lot of time lately talking with conservators, collection managers, registrars and other museum pros about their needs.  One of the questions we always ask is “Why don’t you have wireless sensors in your space already?”.  While the answers fall into a few broad categories, the short answer is that while wireless sensors are great, WiFi is a bad solution for collections. Here's what we've heard.