NCPTT announces $320,000 in funding for preservation technology grants

The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training announces the funding of 14 projects representing the latest technological innovation in historic preservation as part of its PTT Grants program. The funds will go to activities such as strengthening the infrastructure of National Parks, recovering cultural resources from disasters and advancing our nation’s heritage using the internet.

Jonathan Jarvis, the director of the National Park Service, praised the recipients for “bringing the best skills and technology of the present to the preservation of treasures of the past.”

The projects were collectively awarded $320,000 under Title IV of the National Historic Preservation Act.  Proposals underwent peer and national panel review, leading to the selection of the following 14 awardees:

1. Carlsbad Caverns National Park to test and augment new cultural resource spatial data standards to make GIS more useful for cultural resource managers ($25,000).
2. Bandelier National Park to develop an improved method for repairing wooden structural beams within the park’s Civilian Conservation Corps National Historic District ($6,000).
3. University of Massachusetts to protect Gullah Land and Community through the development of a locative media website for Tourism, Community Planning and Education ($24,000).
4. Clemson University for structural health monitoring of America’s cultural heritage ($25,000).
5. Smithsonian Institution, Museum of Natural History to create a website and online community forum for Osteoware software ($20,000).
6. Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum for molecular characterization and technical study of historic aircraft windows and headgear using portable Raman spectroscopy ($25,000).
7. New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation to evaluate nanoparticles (quantum dots) in order to tag and determine penetration depths of consolidant treatments ($25,000).
8. University of Mississippi for digital recovery of water-damaged manuscripts using a portable multispectral imaging lab ($25,000).
9. Carnegie Mellon University to develop a micro-fading tester with near UV capability ($25,000).
10. Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation to create a Massachusetts heritage landscape atlas ($25,000).
11. Pennsylvania State University to develop assessment techniques for historic concrete and masonry using air-coupled impact echo-methods ($25,000).
12. Louisiana Landmarks Society for the development of the “Preservation Reengineering: Finding Green Environmental Management in Vernacular Historic Buildings” workshop ($25,000).
13. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service to develop a “Preservation Protection of Historic Wooden Structures” user guide and online tool ($25,000).
14. Library of Congress to further materials characterization techniques utilizing advanced
    spectral imaging methods ($20,000).

The National Park Service’s National Center for Preservation Technology and Training protects America’s historic legacy by equipping professionals in the field of preservation with progressive technology-based research and training. Since its founding in 1994, NCPTT has awarded over $7 million in grants for research that fulfills its mission of advancing the use of science and technology in the field of historic preservation. Working in the fields of archeology, architecture, landscape architecture and materials conservation, the Center accomplishes its mission through training, education, research, technology transfer and partnerships.