Art and science will converge at the 2011 North Dakota-South Dakota Joint Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research Conference scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 4, at approximately noon in the NDSU Memorial Union Ballroom.
Julie Arslanoglu, associate research scientist in the Department of Scientific Research at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, is the featured speaker for the event. Students from universities in North Dakota and South Dakota also will share their research results in poster presentations from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. The event is co-sponsored by the North Dakota EPSCoR and the South Dakota EPSCoR programs.
Arslanoglu, a noted research scientist, will discuss “What Lies Beneath? Understanding Art Using Science.” Her expertise includes analysis of paint and coating composition, stratigraphy and technology. She is accomplished in the analysis of both traditional and non-traditional artists’ materials and polymeric materials. Her presentation will briefly describe the contribution of scientific analysis to the understanding of artworks, as well as highlight her collaborative research project applying immunological and mass spectrometric techniques to identification and localization to proteins and gums in artwork.
Arslanoglu earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of Michigan and completed graduate studies in organic chemistry at Pennsylvania State University. Her career began as a medicinal chemist specializing in drug metabolism and enzyme mechanisms research at the National Cancer Institute (The National Institutes of Health) in Washington, D.C. She continued her research in the biochemistry department at the University of Texas, San Antonio. Arslanoglu became interested in the field of art conservation and was awarded a fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution, Materials Conservation Institute, Washington, D.C.
Arslanoglu earned her postgraduate diploma in the conservation of easel paintings from the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, while volunteering in the science departments at the Tate Gallery and the National Gallery, London. She has held positions in the scientific departments of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles. In her current position at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Arslanoglu collaborates with curators and conservators in the study of artworks and conducts independent research on immunological and mass spectrometric techniques of organic materials.
The EPSCoR conference, “Competitiveness in This New Funding Era,” also includes undergraduate and graduate students showcasing their work through collaborative research discussions and poster sessions. Nearly 150 student poster presentations are scheduled including topics as varied as spacesuit antennas, solar cells, breast cancer, nanocavities and more.
Established in 1986 as a North Dakota University System program, North Dakota EPSCoR strengthens the state’s science and technology infrastructure and enhances its participation in competitive research and development. For more information, visitwww.ndepscor.nodak.edu.