Since 1984, the United States Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS-USA) International Exchange Program (IEP) has worked with partners around the world to provide hands-on training opportunities for emerging cultural heritage professionals. After convening in Washington, DC for a three-day orientation, the IEP sends participants from the United States to placements abroad and welcomes international participants to placements in the United States in order to expose the next generation of heritage professionals to global best practices of historic preservation and heritage conservation. The IEP is a one-of-a-kind cultural heritage exchange that changes lives by enabling hosts and participants to learn from one another and increase their impact in the heritage field. Welcome to the class of 2026!
Aseel Al-Khdairat holds a Master’s degree in Historic Preservation from the University of Texas at Austin. She received her architecture degree from Jordan University of Science and Technology. Aseel’s work is grounded in understanding architecture to sustain the memories, identities, and stories that communities attach to. Her research focuses on people-centered preservation, preservation policies, themes of memory, architecture, historic houses, cultural landscapes, colonial architecture, and the history of building materials. Through her work, she examines how preservation practices shape the ways people experience and remember places over time. In Austin, she contributed to the documentation of the Old Bakery and Emporium, preparing a comprehensive set of architectural drawings and supporting preservation research. She works with Preservation Austin and Architexas on projects highlighting underrepresented heritage and community histories. She will present at the 2026 Istanbul Heritages Conference and at the SESAC Conference. This summer, Aseel will join the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy at Fallingwater through the IEP, where she will engage in preservation documentation, archival research, field observation, and sketching.
Mario Barra is holds a master’s degree in the field of Architecture and Urbanism, having completed the Monument Care module at the Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Architecture in 2024. Since September 2024, he has been a doctoral student in the FA CTU Architecture and Urbanism program, focusing on History of Architecture and Monument Care. The topic of his doctoral thesis “The role of monument care in the industrial landscape of the coal basins of northwestern Bohemia” focuses on a hitherto neglected chapter in the turbulent history of the settlement of the North Bohemian lignite basins in the second half of the 20th century, and on the role that heritage conservation played in the region during this period. As a result of surface brown coal mining, several dozen settlements disappeared in this area, along with several culturally valuable structures. Today, very detailed documentation of these sites has been preserved, but only a small fraction of them were physically saved. Additionally, Mario completed a two‑year educational program at the National Heritage Institute in the Czech Republic, where he served as the guarantor of selected national cultural monuments from January 2023 to September 2024. Since May 2025, he has been working as a heritage specialist at Prague Castle within the Office of the President of the Czech Republic, contributing to the conservation of one of the most significant Czech monuments. He also frequently travels to explore historical places abroad, especially in Italy, where half of his family comes from. Mario will be spending his internship at the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.
Jatani Bonaya Godana is from the Borana pastoralist and Indigenous community of Ethiopia, in the Horn of Africa. He holds a BSc and an MSc in Civil Engineering (Water Supply and Sanitary Engineering) from Addis Ababa Science and Technology University, as well as an MSc in Project Management, Analysis and Evaluation from SMIC — both with First Class Honors. Jatani worked as an Instructor at Dilla University at the College of Engineering and Technology, Department of Hydraulics and Water Resource Engineering. Jatani is a founder of a youth-led organization called Daayyaa Generation Network (DGN). He also served as an East African Pastoralist Ambassador under GASL of the FAO and is a UNESCO/Poland Co-sponsored Engineering Fellowship alumnus. Jatani is the author of three books as well as peer-reviewed research on Indigenous water management systems and traditional groundwater exploration. His work focuses on integrating scientific findings with Indigenous knowledge, preserving heritage and natural resources for a better world. He is currently pursuing dual MSc degrees in Raw Materials Value Chain (AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland) and Sustainable Mining and Remediation Management (TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Germany) as part of the EU-EIC RAVEN Program. His IEP internship will take place at the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
Nicholas Lami is originally from Madison, New Jersey and currently studies Historical Preservation at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. This summer, he will be placed at Kultūros infrastruktūros centras / Fixus Mobilis in Vilnius, Lithuania. Fixus Mobilis aims to maintain buildings and the general condition of Lithuanian cultural heritage objects throughout the country. Nicholas is most looking forward to getting into the field and learning hands-on techniques from seasoned preservationists.
Eric Romo is from Tampa, Florida. For the past two years, he has been working toward his master’s degree in Historic Preservation at the University of Florida and has recently graduated. His master’s research project included a documentary short film about historic preservation in Florida and was recently submitted to the United Nations Association Film Festival (UNAFF). His IEP placement will be in Prishtina, Kosovo, where he looks forward to learning more about the country’s cultural resources, intangible heritage, and historic architectural assets. He is incredibly excited for this opportunity and eager to experience Kosovo’s history and preservation work firsthand.
Margaret Tennant is from Auburn, Alabama and has had a passion for the power of cultural heritage preservation ever since she studied the preservation of the historic Sloss Ironworks in Birmingham, Alabama when she was in high school. She holds a B.S. in Global Studies from Auburn University and recently graduated with a Master of Arts in Heritage Studies from Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. While in Amsterdam, Margaret studied community approaches to heritage loss caused by climate change. She is excited to be completing her IEP internship in New Delhi, India, with CRCI, where she looks forward to the opportunity to engage with a local community in a revitalization project and observe their unique approach to cultural conservation.