Prof. JoAnn Cassar is Full Professor and Head of the Department of Conservation and Built Heritage within the Faculty for the Built Environment, University of Malta, and Deputy Dean of the Faculty. She is a Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation (FIIC), Fellow of the Geological Society (FGS), Chartered Chemist and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (CChem, FRSC) and Chartered Scientist (CSci). She is a Board member of the Maltese national agency for museums, conservation practice and cultural heritage - Heritage Malta. She has been carrying out research on stone characterization, deterioration and conservation for over thirty years, including specifically on the Maltese Prehistoric Megalithic Temples. She is currently leading projects on an evaluation of the behaviour of the shelters over the Prehistoric Megalithic Temples of Malta - with Heritage Malta; on the behaviour of traditional and modern local roofs, using satellite and drone images - with Dr Charles Galdies, Institute of Earth Systems. She is also leading Malta’s participation in the transnational project IPERION HS, and E-RIHS IP, and spearheading, with local Heritage organisations, Malta’s participation in E-RIHS - the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science; here she is the officially appointed National Node Co-ordinator. She has directed the nomination, and acceptance, of Malta’s Globigerina Limestone as a Global Heritage Stone Resource by the IUGS. She has lectured widely in foreign universities, has given numerous presentations at international conferences and is a regular reviewer for scientific and cultural heritage journals. She has numerous scientific publications on conservation-related topics to her name, and is the co-editor of seven books.
Heritage science
Climate change and heritage
Conservation education
Earth observations for cultural heritage
Traditional building technologies
Conservation of archaeological sites
Deterioration and conservation of building materials
The Department of Conservation and Built Heritage is currently involved in a number of high- level projects where Professor Cassar is the lead researcher. These are: - Evaluating the behaviour over the megalithic Temples of Malta through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modelling https://www.um.edu.mt/ben/builtheritage/ourresearch/sheltersovertemples
- Earth observation for heritage buildings conservation and sustainability (EO4HBCS) https://www.um.edu.mt/ben/builtheritage/ourresearch/earthobservation
- Conservation of the wall paintings by Perez d'Aleccio in the Throne Room of the President's Palace, Valletta https://www.um.edu.mt/ben/builtheritage/ourresearch/palacewallpaintings
- IPERION HS http://www.iperionhs.eu/
- E-RIHS ERIC https://heritagemalta.org/e-rihs/
The Department, led by Professor Cassar, is also a main main beneficiary of ERDF funds which have resulted in the purchase of high-level portable and other equipment, dedicated to Heritage Science research. These will be a core component of the Heritage Science laboratories in the Sustainable Living Comples (SLC) currently being built.
