Webinar Description
Hosted by: ACerS Art, Archaeology & Conservation Science Division
Friday, June 19, 2026; 12:00–1:00 p.m. Eastern US time
Sponsored by the ACerS Art, Archaeology & Conservation Science Division, the June webinar will feature one speaker: Multi-analytical Characterization of Indigenous Australian Plant Exudates and Cultural Heritage Materials
Description
Multi-analytical Characterization of Indigenous Australian Plant Exudates and Cultural Heritage Materials
Plant exudates have been used by societies across the globe and throughout time for varied cultural and practical purposes. Indigenous Australian peoples have used plant exudates, such as spinifex (Triodia), for millennia in continuing practices, including hafting adhesives, varnishes, and paint binders. However, the diverse array of Australian exudate species and cultural heritage materials remain far understudied compared to counterparts in Western European, Asian, and North African traditions, such as Gum Arabic (Senegalia senegal). The development of analytical methods and reference data is essential for identification of exudate species in Indigenous Australian cultural objects which will contribute to provenancing and understanding of the usage of natural binders across time.
In her presentation, Sophia will introduce the combined use of X-ray Raman scattering (XRS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), and pyrolysis-gas chromatography mass spectrometry (py-GCMS) to characterize and distinguish exudate species. She will discuss recent research on a diverse collection of century-old Australian exudates alongside modern samples from research partners that have provided a unique window into variations across plant species and aging-related chemical changes. Through international collaboration between scientists and Traditional Owners, this work aims to unravel the complex chemistry of Australian plant exudates towards the characterization of cultural heritage materials. This research contributes to the ARC Linkage Project ‘From the Desert to the Sea: Managing Rock Art, Country and Culture’ with university, Indigenous, and industry partners.
Biography
Sophia Vogelsang, PhD student and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sophia Vogelsang is a fourth-year PhD student and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison under the advisement of Prof. Uwe Bergmann (UW-Madison) and Prof. Rachel Popelka-Filcoff (University of Melbourne). Sophia earned her bachelor’s degree with honors in chemistry and art history at Vanderbilt University and worked as a Junior Fellows Intern with the Preservation Research and Testing Division at the Library of Congress examining the light-fading of materials with microfade-testing spectroscopy. She completed her Master of Science in chemistry at UW-Madison in 2024. Her research is focused on the use of synchrotron-based X-ray methods alongside lab-based spectroscopic techniques for chemical analysis of cultural heritage materials. Sophie’s PhD research develops novel approaches for characterizing plant exudates used by Aboriginal Australians as binders in continuous traditions stretching from the archaeological past to present.
Registration
ACerS member: no cost
ACerS GGRN and Material Advantage student member: no cost
Non-member: no cost
Non-member student: no cost
If you have any questions, please contact Vicki Evans.
This webinar is brought to you by the ACerS Art, Archaeology & Conservation Science Division.
To view past ACerS webinars, click here.
