Rachel Popelka-Filcoff

Professor Rachel Popelka-Filcoff is the Rock Art Australia Minderoo Chair in Archaeological Science in the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Melbourne, where she leads archaeological science initiatives. Her laboratory integrates advanced characterisation, spectroscopic and statistical-driven approaches, in the areas of archaeological science and cultural heritage chemistry. Her research is to the first comprehensive integrative characterisation of Australian natural mineral pigments on cultural heritage materials by several analytical methods to answer questions about provenance and composition. Rachel holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Missouri  as a National Science Foundation Research Fellow and completed a National Research Council postdoc at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).