Currently a field conservator with the Alexander Turnbull Library's National Preservation Office, Heikell was earlier this year made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to heritage conservation and Māori.
She provides training and advice in the preservation of documentary heritage items, as well as collections to individuals, groups, iwi and other organisations.
In 1989 she began conservation work in Tairāwhiti, however it wasn't until she studied in Australia that she started to become an expert in paper preservation.
MONIQUE FORD/STUFF
Earlier this year Heikell was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to heritage conservation and Māori.