PROFESSOR RACHEL POPELKA-FILCOFF
Rock Art Australia Kimberley Foundation Chair in Archaeological Science in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne
What is your current field of research?
My research group and laboratory integrates advanced nuclear and spectroscopic approaches into multidisciplinary projects, including cultural heritage chemistry and archaeological science. My research is to the first comprehensive integrative characterisation of Australian natural mineral pigments on cultural heritage materials by several analytical methods to answer questions about provenance and composition.
What has your career path been like?
I completed my Ph.D. at the University of Missouri-Columbia (USA) in 2006, which has one of the top nuclear chemistry graduate programs in the United States. I completed my postdoctoral studies at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, USA) (2007-2008), in the Material Measurement Laboratory, developing neutron activation analysis analytical methods. I was a Research Associate (Level A) at Flinders University, (June 2009- December 2010). In 2011 I received an Australian Institute of Science and Engineering (AINSE) Fellowship. This role began my academic position at Flinders University and the establishment of my laboratory in the areas of analytical chemistry, archaeological science and forensic and environmental chemistry. From 2011-2013 I was a Level B Research Fellow and was promoted to Senior Research Fellow (Level C) in 2013. I was promoted to Associate Professor (Level D) in 2016 and moved to the University of Melbourne in 2020.
What do you enjoy most about your job/research?
I have always been fascinated about the intersection of science and social sciences/humanities and the interdisciplinary approaches in archaeological science and am thrilled to be in a role where I can pursue my research passions. I enjoy working with researchers and students who bring their expertise to these larger scientific questions about how cultural expression makes us human, and how we can analyse cultural material heritage to answer questions that may not have been possible any other way. I am always motivated by the cultural material heritage itself, especially when viewing it in its original context or in a museum. This helps to inspire not only the appreciation for the object, but also for the people who made it and use it as well as the science for analysing it.
As a child I first began to learn about archaeology through the lens of Mediterranean archaeology. I was inspired to learn more about archaeological science in high school after taking a summer archaeology class. I analysed ceramics from the trash pits of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and related the chemistry of the restaurant and fine ware to their original manufacture companies. A project that came out of this after working at University of Missouri research reactor eventually landed me a place to attend the International Science and Engineering Fair in Canada my last year of high school.
My undergraduate degree was as Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology and Classics at Washington University in St Louis (USA), where I focused on learning more about the Mediterranean world and its archaeology. I had the opportunity to experience three different field schools, one in the Athenian Agora, one examining bioarchaeology in northern Jordan and one excavating Etruscan sites in Italy. These fieldwork experiences encouraged my childhood love of archaeology and showed me the diversity of possibilities of cultural materials to analyse and their original contexts. From there I decided that I wanted to be a physical scientist who worked in archaeological science and completed my PhD in analytical chemistry at the University of Missouri-Columbia, studying at the Archaeometry Laboratory at MURR.
What does a typical day of work involve for you?
No two days are the same and the variety of experiences and opportunities continue to develop my interests and knowledge. Many days involve a balance of writing, developing proposals, mentoring and working with students, leading the group, committee meetings, in the lab, teaching and developing courses, giving a presentation, traveling to conferences and experiments, visiting cultural institutions among others!
What advice would you give someone starting out in the same field?
Explore and stay true to your passions. As archaeological science crosses disciplines, you may feel encouraged to be limited to a particular direction. The intersection of social and natural science is where the excitement happens.
How has the field you work in changed (particularly regarding women) since you have started working?
Growing up, my family always promoted the importance of science and that women are equal participants in science as men. that As with many areas of science, there are roughly equal numbers of women and men in undergraduate classes and similarly with undergraduate university degrees. However, it is still the case for under-representation of women in higher levels and leadership within all science fields. Things certainly have changed since my parents’ generation and I’d like to think the situation will be improved for my children, but I still think that societal opinions and views on women in science still need to change. In many cases what we see in society and the workplace are perhaps less direct sexist comments, rather incorrect perceptions or stereotypes of the capabilities of women and underrepresented groups as leaders in science. These societal perceptions not only limit the possibilities of women or underrepresented groups, but also the overall potential of society.
Explore and stay true to your passions.
What do you see as the next steps forward in your field? Are there any new projects you would like to collaborate on in future?
Archaeological science is always on the cusp of new technologies. Most importantly, these come from a broad set of disciplines and approaches. The future of archaeological science is drawing on established methods in a diversity of fields for new perspectives, as well as creating new scientific approaches that may have applications in other disciplines. Archaeological scientists are always developing new and improved technologies.
You can find out more about Rachel’s research through Google Scholar and Twitter.