Position at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Preventive Conservation Research Associate
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Scientific Research
New York City, New York

Applicants: Conservators and Scientists may apply

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the world's finest museums,
seeks a Research Associate in the Department of Scientific Research.
This role provides technical support to the Environmental Research
Scientist related to environmental monitoring, insect identification
and abatement, and materials testing.  Duties will include
collecting, analyzing, and presenting environmental, insect related,
and materials testing data as well as maintaining related equipment
and databases.  This is a full-time permanent position.

Primary Responsibilities and Duties:

    Applies professional knowledge of preservation principles and
    activities to conduct quality assurance testing on display and
    housing materials, evaluating commercially available display,
    storage, and construction materials for compatibility with
    artwork using established techniques and protocols

    Plans and conducts environmental testing to promote the
    preservation of the collection.  Environmental testing includes
    the evaluation of temperature, humidity, light, dust, pollution,
    and vibration levels

    Identifies insects and biologicals found near or on artwork

    Performs anoxic treatments and assists conservators in treating
    art objects for insect remediation

    Conducts light level and micro-fading measurements on art and
    preservation materials, recommending light levels for related
    works of art

    Performs and assists conservators in sensor calibration for
    analytical and environmental test equipment

    Utilizes database and web-enabled applications to document and
    disseminate materials testing and insect related results

    Performs literature reviews on related topics using scientific
    and conservation literature, proposing improvements to existing
    protocols and procedures

    Writes progress and summary reports, standard operating
    procedures, and annotated bibliographies on related topics and
    activities

    Other duties as assigned

Requirements and Qualifications:

Experience and Skills:

    Experience in photochemistry, spectroscopy, environmental
    chemistry, air quality monitoring, corrosion science, or
    preventive conservation (preferred)

    Experience testing and evaluating museum environment factors
    such as temperature, humidity, light, and dust, pollution, or
    vibration levels (preferred)

    Experience operating and analyzing data from at least two
    analytical tools.  Examples include but are not limited to
    optical spectroscopy, liquid or gas chromatography, mass
    spectrometry, x-Ray fluorescence spectroscopy, or scanning
    electron microscopy (required)

    Experience in insect and biological identification and treatment
    (preferred)

    Familiar with statistical analysis of data (preferred)

    Previous museum experience (preferred)

    Proficient in Microsoft Word processing, Excel spreadsheet
    manipulation, and use of PowerPoint for documenting, processing,
    and presenting information (required)

    Strong command of both written and spoken English

Knowledge and Education:

    M.S. in chemistry, materials science, or biology, Graduate
    Degree in Preventive Conservation, or equivalent training and
    experience

    General chemistry and organic chemistry lab experience

    Strong command of both written and spoken English

Please send cover letter, resume, and salary history to
careers<-at->metmuseum<.>org with "Research Associate/Scientific Research
Department" in the subject line.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art provides equal opportunity to all
employees and applicants for employment without regard to race,
color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, national origin,
ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, pregnancy, alienage or
citizenship status, marital status or domestic partner status,
genetic information, genetic predisposition or carrier status,
gender identity, HIV status, military status and any other category
protected by law in all employment decisions, including but not
limited to recruitment, hiring, compensation, training and
apprenticeship, promotion, upgrading, demotion, downgrading,
transfer, lay-off and termination, and all other terms and
conditions of employment.  AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, and national
service alumni encouraged to apply.

Eric Breitung
Senior Research Scientist
Department of Scientific Research
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
New York, NY 10028


                                  ***
                  Conservation DistList Instance 29:19
                Distributed: Sunday, September 27, 2015
                       Message Id: cdl-29-19-022
                                  ***