Next School Seminar: Heather Viles (University of Oxford)

Issued: Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:23:00 BST

Greening stone conservation?  Linking biodiversity and cultural heritage conservation

Heather Viles (University of Oxford)

Friday 4^th October at 16:00 in the East Quadrangle Lecture Theatre

 Abstract: Do plants and other biota provide a threat or an opportunity for the conservation of historic sites such as Angkor Wat and Tintern Abbey?  And, in turn, can sites protected for heritage reasons also contribute to global biodiversity conservation by providing a refuge for important, rare or threatened species?  Recent research is starting to allow a more balanced assessment of the opportunities and risks of allowing biotic communities to grow on walls and buildings.  Evidence from research on barnacles and algae on coastal defence structures, green algae on sandstone walls, ivy on historic walls and soft capping of ruins provides clear examples of both positive and negative roles of biota and how positive roles might be enhanced.

Heather Viles is Professor of Biogeomorphology and Heritage Conservation in the School of Geography and Environment at the University of Oxford, UK. She runs the Oxford Rock Breakdown Laboratory (OxRBL).  Her research focuses on stone deterioration and conservation in the built environment, and on rock breakdown in extreme environments (including rocky coasts, deserts and on Mars). She enjoys working in interdisciplinary teams, and is currently involved in projects with ecologists, microbiologists, engineers, geologists, archaeologists, stone masons, and architectural conservators in collaboration with English Heritage, the British Museum, Proceq, Queens University Belfast, Lanzhou University, China and the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.