Zhiyou Han

Zhiyou Han, Ph.D. is a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University’s Asia Center for the 2026 academic year. She earned her doctorate and master’s degree in conservation science from Tokyo University of the Arts and her bachelor’s degree in arts and art history from Franklin & Marshall College. She is an associate research fellow and conservation specialist in the Department of Conservation Standards of Cultural Heritage at the Palace Museum in Beijing, since 2020. Her research interests include conservation science, the conservation of paper-based materials, and the standardization of cultural heritage conservation, with a particular focus on traditional East Asian papers and their material properties. Her research at the Asia Center focuses on the non-destructive analysis of handmade paper in East Asia.

Dr. Han’s publications on the wet strength of kozo paper and traditional Japanese papers include “Effect of Hemicellulose on the Wet Tensile Strength of Kozo Paper” (Molecules, 2023), “Influence of Cooking Methods on the Wet Strength of Kozo Paper” (Journal of the Paper Technology Association, 2020), and “Influence of Papermaking Methods on the Wet Strength of Thin Mino Paper” (Journal of the Paper Technology Association, 2019).