6035cf8d-5f9c-46b0-a7bc-5631279b019a Katarzyna Anna Vargas Conservator New-York Historical Society Museum & Library New York, NY, USA Previous Next All members MEMBER INFORMATION Katarzyna Ann Vargas is a Conservator at the New-York Historical Society, where she cares for the collection’s paper based materials, including printed books, manuscripts, and ephemera. She has particular interest in preventive conservation strategies, historic conservation practices, and conservation ethics. Prior to joining the N-YHS staff, Katarzyna trained at several New York City based conservation laboratories, including the American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Morgan Library. She received her degree in conservation from the Patricia H. and Richard E. Garman Art Conservation Department at SUNY Buffalo State. ABM CONFERENCES ABM 2021 Team Presenter Extracting Stories from DNA preserved by 19th century Americana Explore Full Abstract ABM MEMBER EVENTS PUBLICATIONS + PROJECTS

df8fcd0f-e5c4-40b3-9639-3569b4e93346 Shanan Tobe Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science College of Science, Health, Engineering and Education Murdoch University Perth, Australia Previous Next All members MEMBER INFORMATION Shanan Tobe is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science Research and Integrity Advisor Academic Chair Forensic Biology and Toxicology. He currently holds funding with the Australian Research Council and the Australian Plant Biosecurity Fund. He is a molecular biologist/forensic science. He applies his forensic expertise to other scientific problems including evaluation of art using molecular biology. ABM CONFERENCES ABM 2021 Poster Presenter Archaeomicrobiology: Method Development to “Fingerprint” Australian Cultural Ochre Using Microbial DNA Analysis Explore Full Abstract ABM MEMBER EVENTS PUBLICATIONS + PROJECTS

628f4ed0-91b5-44b6-be67-2f2575147a02 Emily Kaplan Conservator Acting Head of Conservation National Museum of the American Indian Washington, DC, USA Previous Next All members MEMBER INFORMATION Emily Kaplan has been an objects conservator at the National Museum of the American Indian since 1994; she currently serves as Acting Head of Conservation. Her research interests include materiality and provenance studies of historic and archaeological museum collections. Emily is committed to collaborative practice in conservation through partnerships with Indigenous communities and artists. She works closely with her colleagues to manage the NMAI Conservation Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship program. ABM CONFERENCES ABM 2021 Participant Art Bio Matters 2021 Virtual Conference Explore Full Abstract ABM MEMBER EVENTS PUBLICATIONS + PROJECTS

0ff3bae3-9c2d-4ab5-9f4e-8679fbd9c5f3 RESOURCES Glossaries + Databases Glossaries + Databases Reference Materials Reference Materials Scientific Resources Scientific Resources Videos + Lectures Videos + Lectures Journals + Publications Journals + Publications Coming Soon Explore institutions that have the ability to carry out analysis of cultural heritage materials. This list is not exhaustive, but it is intended as a reference for current organizations with scientific instrumentation. SCIENTIFIC RESOURCES American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) Explore Videos + Lectures Canadian Conservation Institute Explore Videos + Lectures Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) Explore Videos + Lectures Harvard Art Museums, Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies Explore Videos + Lectures Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields Explore Videos + Lectures Leibniz Institute DSMZ-German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures Explore Videos + Lectures Library of Congress, Preservation Research Testing Division Explore Videos + Lectures Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) Explore Videos + Lectures Metropolitan Museum of Art Explore Videos + Lectures Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Explore Videos + Lectures Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Explore Videos + Lectures Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Explore Videos + Lectures National Museum of Asian Art, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Explore Videos + Lectures Philadelphia Museum of Art Explore Videos + Lectures Rathgen-Forschungslabor (Rathgen Research Laboratory), Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museum) Explore Videos + Lectures Smithsonian Institution (SI) Museum Conservation Institute (MCI) Explore Videos + Lectures The Art Institute of Chicago Explore Videos + Lectures The National Gallery, London, UK Explore Videos + Lectures Winterthur Museum, Garden, & Library Explore Videos + Lectures Yale University, Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage Explore Videos + Lectures

f1a5d9cc-1d2e-4bb2-97e3-daaa1b04d5a4 Theanne Schiros Associate Professor, Dept. of Math and Science Fashion Institute of Technology Previous Next All members MEMBER INFORMATION Theanne Schiros, PhD is an educator, scientist and National Geographic Explorer, whose research focuses on development of regenerative, high performance materials for a circular economy, including renewable energy technology and biotextiles. She is an Associate Professor at FIT and a Research Scientist at Columbia University, and a co-founder and CSO of Werewool, an early stage startup creating biodegradable textile fibers with DNA-programmed color and performance provided by engineered proteins. Her work has received international recognition, including the 2023 National Geographic Wayfinder Award, and the 2022 Microfiber Innovation Challenge and the 2020 H&M Foundation Global Change Awards (Werewool), and the 2017 National Geographic Chasing Genius Award (KeelLabs), as well as international museum exhibitions of a microbial bioleather innovation. ABM CONFERENCES ABM 2023 Steering Committee Art Bio Matters 2023 Conference Explore Full Abstract ABM MEMBER EVENTS PUBLICATIONS + PROJECTS

22d3a359-b673-4325-a453-1b666b193817 Yueh-Ting Chiu MuSE Intern, The Metropolitan Museum of Art Graduate Student, Biomaterials and Interface Tissue Engineering Laboratory Department of Biomedical Engineering Columbia University New York, NY, USA Previous Next All members MEMBER INFORMATION As a MuSe summer intern at the metropolitan museum of art, Yueh-Ting Chiu is currently working alongside with the department of scientific research on characterization of different emulsion tanning methods involving animal organs. In a collaboration with Columbia University, her responsibilities involves analysis of the mechanical properties and surface analysis of the material. They will also be looking in the proteomics and lipidomic fingerprints left behind from the different emulsion techniques. ABM CONFERENCES ABM 2021 Poster Presenter How It's Made: Emulsion (Organ) Tanned Leathers Explore Full Abstract ABM MEMBER EVENTS PUBLICATIONS + PROJECTS

800efaf4-c77f-4b43-8797-dea15dc3a90b Beate Fuecker Project Lead Institute of Art Technology and Conservation (IKK) Germanisches National museum Nuremberg, Germany Previous Next All members MEMBER INFORMATION Beate Fücker is currently head of a research project in art technology of the late medieval panel paintings from southern Germany that are part of the collection of the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg. They have been investigating panel paintings for the last 8 years, so far resulting in two comprehensive collection catalogues. The ongoing serial examination of all panels follows the exact same scheme and involves radiography, infrared imaging, UV-fluorescence-photography, X-ray fluorescence analysis, wood species analysis, and microscopic examination as well as sampling and dendrochronology in selected cases. ABM CONFERENCES ABM 2021 Poster Presenter Animal tendon on late medieval wooden artefacts – Problems of Analysis and Questions of historic Preparation of Tendon Material Explore Full Abstract ABM MEMBER EVENTS PUBLICATIONS + PROJECTS

e65c9667-fc1e-4c47-bf47-6d19f96706df Vanessa Jones Assistant curator of dress and textiles Leeds Museums and Galleries Previous Next All members MEMBER INFORMATION Vanessa Jones is a curator and lecturer of dress and textile histories and theories. She has worked within the heritage sector for a decade and has taught in higher education for the last two years. She is an expert in curatorial practice around diversifying narratives of eighteenth-century dress, with broader specialisms including sustainable practices of dress consumption and production, global networks of trade, decolonisation and women’s history. ABM CONFERENCES ABM 2023 Team Presenter Victorian Parasols: Scientists, Artisans, Historians and Curators in Conversation Co-authored with Cordula van Wyhe. Read the Abstract. Explore Full Abstract ABM MEMBER EVENTS PUBLICATIONS + PROJECTS

9890d064-4b15-49f9-935c-ab92c607478a Gregory Dale Smith Otto N. Frenzel III Senior Conservation Scientist Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields Indianapolis, IN, USA Previous Next All members MEMBER INFORMATION Dr. Smith designed, outfitted, and now operates the conservation science laboratory at the IMA where he conducts technical studies of the museum’s collections. His research interests include undergraduate education at the Arts-Science interface, assessing pollution off-gassing of museum construction materials, and understanding the chemical degradation of artists’ materials. ABM CONFERENCES ABM 2023 Steering Committee Art Bio Matters 2023 Conference Explore Full Abstract ABM 2018 Participant Art Bio Matters 2018 Conference Explore Full Abstract ABM MEMBER EVENTS PUBLICATIONS + PROJECTS

Find collaborators. Share your ongoing work related to art, cultural history, scientific analysis, and art conservation. If you have a project to post, please email info@artbiomatters.org. COMMUNITY Projects Projects Publications Member Events Members Publications PROJECTS Find collaborators. Share your ongoing work related to art, cultural history, scientific analysis, and art conservation. If you have a project to post, please email info@artbiomatters.org . Immaterial: Chia - Beyond superfoods and infomercials. Julie Arslanoglu For centuries, one of the most prized mediums of art at museums like The Met has been oil painting, a European tradition embodied by the so-called “Old Masters.” This is the story of how the oil of the chia seed—yes, the same one that’s a staple add-on for smoothies and acai bowls—and its origins in Mexico could help us look at oil painting and our world with fresh eyes. Explore Provenance determination of archaeological ochre by 16S rRNA sequencing microbial composition Rachel S. Popelka-Filcoff [1], Claire E. Lenehan [2], Shanan S. Tobe [3] Data from 16S rRNA sequencing studies provide profiles of ochre sources that are both independent of and complementary to elemental and mineralogical analyses. We have demonstrated the clear discrimination between four geographically and mineralogically distinct Australian cultural ochre sites. This work demonstrates that trace microbial content in archaeological samples provide a yet unexploited source of information for provenance studies and outlines the possibilities towards the application to other culturally important geological materials. Explore Non-proximate Ambient Mass Spectrometry Sampling of Large, Intact Cultural Heritage Objects G. Asher Newsome [1], Kathleen Martin [2] Ambient mass spectrometry ion sources can sample from an intact object at atmospheric pressure, but they require the analyte to be close to an MS inlet and therefore cannot accommodate large objects. We constructed a non-proximate sampling system to thermally desorb analyte molecules from large, intact objects using a heated gas jet. Material is transferred 2 m to a custom-mounted direct analysis in real time (DART) ion source. Explore Decolonizing Crocodylian Collections: Developing a model system for bridging indigenous and Eurocentric perspectives on culturally and economically important species in museum holdings Evon Hekkala The project focuses on using archival research on cultural heritage collections containing crocodiles as a model to resurface and to integrate Indigenous historical archival narratives and to re-attribute knowledge from source and descendent communities. Explore Human bone points from Mesolithic Doggerland Joannes Dekker [1]; Virginie Sinet-Mathiot [2]; Merel Spithoven [3]; Bjorn Smit [4]; Arndt Wilcke [5]; Frido Welker [6,2]; Alexander Verpoorte [1]; and Marie Soressi [1,2] Raw material selection is the first step of an object’s use life and provides us valuable information on an artefact’s place in the larger toolkit. However, the species of osseous artefacts is often difficult to identify. By applying ZooMS we found evidence for the selection of human bone for the production of Mesolithic barbed points from Doggerland and hypothesise that this represents a deliberate and meaningful choice by the Mesolithic inhabitants of Doggerland. Explore Overlooked Organics in Decorative Arts: Cataloguing Winterthur’s Hard Matrices and Collagen-Based Organics Rosie Grayburn, Lara Kaplan, Katie Lagarde, Catherine Matsen, and Ann Wagner Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library was awarded an NEH grant to catalogue “overlooked organic” objects in the collection through physical identification and analytical research. This project focuses on cataloguing a group of objects with a high standard of accuracy, acquiring information through visual and scientific analysis, research, and expert consultation. The work is a collaboration between curatorial, conservation, and scientific staff to understand findings within the craft context for each object. Explore Beasts to Craft: Biocodicology as a new approach to the study of parchment manuscripts Explore