Virginia (Ginny) Greene began at the University of Pennsylvania in 1963 as a graduate student, receiving her M.A. in anthropology in 1968. She was active in the field with the Tikal Project between 1964 to 1968 doing illustration work, repairs to objects, some excavation and recording of burials. In 1971, she graduated from the conservator training program at the Institute of Archaeology in London and came back to the Penn Museum to run its Conservation Lab, which she did until 2008, when she retired as Senior Conservator.