Tania Collas (’95) has been the Conservator at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County since 2001. She keeps busy addressing the preservation concerns of the 33 million natural science and cultural objects in the museum’s collections. Tania’s most recent major project has been the conservation assessment of the museum’s 1924 Douglas World Cruiser, the New Orleans. The New Orleans, a paint and canvas-covered, steel and wood-frame biplane, is one of the two surviving airplanes that first successfully circumnavigated the globe. The New Orleans Conservation Assessment, funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, has greatly benefited from the expert consultation of Malcolm Collum (’95), Conservator at the Henry Ford Museum. Karen Trentelman, Senior Scientist at the Getty Conservation Institute and former Buffalo Art Conservation Department science professor, also contributed to the project by analyzing surfaces of the airplane using a hand-held X-ray Spectrometer. The results of the conservation assessment, still in progress, will allow NHM to pursue the treatment of this aging, irreplaceable aviation treasure. In her personal life, Tania and husband Bekir Gurdil had a baby girl in May.

Above Left: Tania shows off a "highly specialized" airplane paint sampling tool.  Bottom Left: Tania's classmate Malcolm Collum ('95) and former art conservation department science professor Karen Trentelman, consulting on the project.