Dr. Tami Lasseter Clare, PhD, is a Professor of Chemistry at Portland State University. She teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate courses and is the Director of the Pacific Northwest Conservation Science Consortium, in partnership with five major museums in the region. With her undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral trainees, her research efforts center on developing new materials and diagnostic tools to prevent and understand the degradation of material cultural heritage, such as artwork and ethnographic materials. Her prior work experience includes post-doctoral work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and as an instructor at the University of Pennsylvania in the Historic Preservation program. She earned her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2005. Dr. Clare’s research is focused on developing materials and sensors for cultural heritage conservation.

As the Fulbright’s Joint Spain Greece Researcher/Lecturer, she will study sustainable coatings to protect metalwork against corrosion – with considerations for materials suitable for that climate. Notably, with the war in Ukraine, energy rationing is forcing museums in Greece to relax their standards on indoor temperature and humidity controls. Hence, there is an urgent need to monitor sculptures for active corrosion in these vulnerable conditions and develop materials to prevent corrosion. In Madrid, Dr. Clare will work within the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Metalúrgicas a part of the Spanish National Research Council. While in Athens, Dr. Clare’s collaboration will be in partnership with the University of West Attica’s Department of Conservation of Antiquities and Works of Art.