Dr Petronella Nel
Lecturer
- Telephone:
- (+61 3) 8344 0354
- Email:
- pnel@unimelb.edu.au
- Fax:
- (+61 3) 8344 0329
- Location:
- Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation
Ian Potter Building
The University of Melbourne VIC 3010
Academic profile (click on the link for more information)
Biography
Petronella Nel is a lecturer and researcher at the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation. She has qualifications in art and science with a BSc (Honours), PhD in Chemistry and an MA in Cultural Materials Conservation. She is involved with the teaching and research programs at CCMC. Her research interests include the non-invasive analysis of artifacts,the development of scientific techniques to conservation and the analysis and assessment of adhesives used to repair archaeological pottery.
Research
- 2008: ARC-DP0879758 “Archaeological conservation: the development of analysis and assessment protocols for adhesives used on archaeological pottery”. Investigators: A/Prof Robyn Sloggett (CCMC), Prof Antonio Sagona (Classics & Archaeology) and Deborah Lau (CSIRO). Research Associate: Dr Petronella Nel (CCMC).
- 2008: University of Melbourne - CSIRO Collaborative Research Program. “Compositional study of ochre-earth pigments based on micro-PIXE and micro-XRF – micro-XRD techniques by application of multi-pixel array detector technology”. Investigators: Dr Petronella Nel (CCMC) and Dr Peter Lynch (CSIRO).
- 2007: Melbourne Early Career Researcher Grant Scheme (ECR). “Detection of contaminants in conservation adhesives: a quality control issue”. Investigator: Dr Petronella Nel (CCMC).
- 2006: CSIRO-CMIT Research Project. “The identification of an additive in old tubes of a conservation grade adhesive”. Investigators: Dr Petronella Nel (CCMC) and Deborah Lau (CSIRO).
- 2005: CSIRO-CMIT Research Project. “Pigment matrix effects when analyzing painted artifacts using micro X-ray Diffraction”. Investigators: Dr Petronella Nel (CCMC) and Deborah Lau (CSIRO).
Publications
Journal Articles (* refereed journals)
- Taylor, T., Nel, P., 2008. “Blamire Young’s Clouds in Spring, a watercolour with crystals”, in AICCM National Newsletter, No. 106, March 2008, p. 18-21.
- * Nel, P., 2007. “A preliminary investigation into the identification of adhesives on archaeological pottery” in AICCM Bulletin Vol. 30, pp. 27-37.
- * Nel, P., Lau, D., Hay, D. and Wright, N., 2006. “Micro X-ray Diffraction analysis of painted artefacts: a study of pigment matrix effects” in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B Vol. 251, pp. 489-495.
- Nel, P., 2006. “A Valuable Contribution to the Field of Archaeological Conservation” in Ian Potter Museum of Art Newsletter, The University of Melbourne, no. 1, p. 10-11
- Nel. P., 2005. “A Valuable Teaching Asset for the Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation – Toilet Bottle (glass)” in Ian Potter Museum of Art Newsletter, The University of Melbourne, no. 3, p. 6
Conference proceedings (* refereed publications)
- * Nel, P., and Lau, D., 2009. “Identification of a formulation change in a conservation grade adhesive” in Holding it all together: ancient and modern approaches to joining, repair and consolidation – Conference Proceedings, British Museum, London, February 21-22, Archetype Publications, London (being refereed).
- * Nel, P. 2009. “Issues associated with adhesives used on archaeological pottery” in Vessels: Inside and Outside – EMAC ’07 – 9th European Meeting on Ancient Ceramics – Conference Proceedings, October 24-27, 2007, Hungarian National Museum, Budapest (in press)
- * Nel, P., and Lau, D., 2008. “Micro X-ray Diffraction Analysis of Pigments: Determination of detection limits of fourteen coloured pigments in three white pigment matrices” in 9th International Congress for Applied Mineralogy – Proceedings, 8-10 September 2008, pp. 137-144.
- * Hinde, L., and Nel, P., 2008. “A novel technique for the photography of daylight fluorescent artwork” in ICOM-CC 15th Triennial Meeting – Diversity in Heritage Conservation: Tradition, Innovation and Participation, Conference Preprints, Vol. 1, New Delhi, India, September 23-26, 2008, pp. 286-294.
- Nel, P., Lau, D., Hay, D., and Wright, N., 2007. “Micro X-ray Diffraction Analysis of Painted Surfaces” in Contemporary Collections – AICCM National Conference – Preprints, eds. A Pagliarino and G Osmond, Brisbane, 17-19th October 2007, pp. 122-129
- Nel, P., Lau, D., Hoobin, P., Braybrook, C., Mardel, J., Burgar, I., Chen, M., Curtis, P., and McHugh, C., 2007. “Analysis of adhesive used to repair archaeological pottery” in Contemporary Collections – AICCM National Conference – Preprints, eds. A Pagliarino and G Osmond, Brisbane, 17-19th October 2007, pp. 197-206.
- Hinde, E., Nel, P., Sloggett, R., and Roberts, A., 2007. “A Photographic method for documenting daylight fluorescent paint” in Contemporary Collections – AICCM National Conference – Preprints, eds. A Pagliarino and G Osmond, Brisbane, 17-19th October 2007, pp. 31-36.
Reports
- Nel, P., 2008. “Significance Assessment of the Chemistry Cultural Collection”, September 2008.
Teaching
108-449 Conservation Materials Chemistry
108-450 Analytical Techniques in Conservation
108-451 Technical Examination and Documentation
Chemistry Bridging Course
Supervision
Petronella supervises postgraduates, most notably when scientific analysis is involved with the conservation research project.
PhD:
- Elizabeth Hinde 2007-2009, The fading behaviour and colour matching of fluorescent acrylic paint
Minor thesis by coursework (research support):
- Georgia Harvey 2006, Indonesian and Malay keris: manufacture, preservation, and significance with guidelines for culturally appropriate storage, handling and display
- Tammi Lye 2006, Identification of the media used on bound Hawaiian pre-colonial tapa specimens from Alexander Shaw’s book; “A catalogue of the different specimens of cloth collected in the three voyages of Captain Cook, to the southern hemisphere” published in London, 1787
- Kate Shepardson 2006, The potential use of alkaline substances to prevent the development of Byne’s Efflorescence in bird egg collections
- Erin Chapman 2007, Ascertaining the residue effect of naphthalene recrystallisation in natural history collections
- Selina Halim 2007, Ageing Characteristics of Winsor & Newton and Marie’s Artists Oil Paints in Tropical Climates
- Isa Loo 2007, Organic residue analysis in ethnographic collections
- Nola Orr 2007, Assessment of triammonium citrate as a cleaning agent for works on paper
- Katherine Rosenthal 2007, Investigation into the causes of blistering of alkyd resin paint films in the work of Stieg Persson
- Nick Zihrul 2007, Analysis of the nature and extent of the reversibility of inpainitng onto the surface of an original paper object using an isolating layer