Project team
Noëlle L. W. Streeton
Noëlle Streeton is Professor of Conservation in the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo. She is Principal Investigator and Leader of POLYCHROME.
Professor Streeton is a conservator and materials historian, educated at the University of Chicago and University College London. She was Principal Investigator for the project “After the Black Death: Painting and Polychrome Sculpture in Norway” (2014–2018). She was chief editor and lead author of the collaborative book, Sacred Medieval Objects and Their Afterlives in Scandinavia (Brill: Leiden, 2025).
Oliver Reiersen
Photo: Private
Oliver Reiersen is Project Coordinator for POLYCHROME and Research Officer at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, University of Oslo.
He holds an MA in European Culture and a BA in Aesthetics and Comparative Literature from the University of Oslo, and BA in Arts Management from BI Norwegian Business School.
He has been the coordinator of the Nordic Graduate School in Archaeology, Dialogues with the Past and the Norwegian Research School in History. Formerly, he worked as an intern at the Oslo Region European Office in Brussels.
Jacopo Melada
Jacopo Melada is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the POLYCHROME project. He holds a BSc and MSc in Conservation and Diagnostics for Cultural Heritage and a PhD in Earth Sciences from the Università degli Studi di Milano.
His research focuses on microclimate, environmental diagnostics, and the impact of climatic processes on cultural heritage, with an emphasis on data-driven approaches to preventive conservation. His work includes extensive use of non-invasive diagnostic methods for the study and evaluation of cultural heritage materials.
José Tapia Reguera
Dr José Tapia Reguera is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the POLYCHROME project. He is a physicist, specializing in the development and application of advanced X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and X-ray based techniques for cultural heritage studies.
He earned his PhD in Physical Chemistry from PSL University in France (December 2024), following a Master’s in Physics and Engineering from Paris-Saclay University, and a Bachelor’s in Physics from the Autonomous University of Madrid. His research integrates instrumentation development and analytical innovation applied to cultural heritage, including work with non-invasive 1D and 3D confocal XRF, portable MA-XRF and MA-XRPD imaging, synchrotron-induced micro- and nano- XRF / XRD / XAS, and angle-resolved XRF. Before joining the POLYCHROME project, he held a Research Fellowship at the CNR-ISPC XRAYLab in Catania (Italy), and a CNRS PhD position at the C2RMF lab in Paris (Carrousel du Louvre site).
Inger Blichfeldt Bjerke
Inger Blichfeldt Bjerke is a PhD research fellow with the POLYCHROME project. She earned an MA in Paintings Conservation, a BA in Cultural Heritage and Conservation Studies, and a BA in Sociology, all from the University of Oslo.
Her research focuses on restoration histories and secondary layers on medieval polychrome sculptures and altarpieces in the Nordic countries. She investigates how changing restoration practices have influenced the survival, appearance, and perceived authenticity of these objects.
Tore Storehaug
Tore Storehaug is a PhD research fellow with the POLYCHROME project. He holds an MA in History from the University of Oslo, where his previous research focused on legal history in the context of religious change.
His doctoral research examines norms concerning bodily injury in legal sources from the medieval and early modern periods. Prior to joining the POLYCHROME project, he worked as a teacher and served one term in the Norwegian Parliament.
Lavinia de Ferri
Lavinia de Ferri was appointed Associate Professor of Conservation Science at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, in 2020.
After completing her PhD in 2012 at the University of Modena e Reggio Emilia, she held post-doc positions at NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology), Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, University of Parma (Interdepartmental Centre for Innovation in Health Products- Biopharmanet) and Politecnico di Milano.
Her research focuses on the application of spectroscopic methods to study historical and archaeological materials, paintings (e.g., pigments and binders), natural and artificial stone materials, ceramics, mortars, plasters, glass, textiles and dyestuffs.
Rémy Chapoulie
Rémy Chapoulie has been Professor of Physics for Archaeometry at the University of Bordeaux Montaigne since 2006.
He was elected to the Scientific Committee of Human and Social Sciences of the National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS) (2000–2004), to the National Council of French Universities (CNU) in Physics (2006–2008) and to the Regional Research Council of Aquitaine (2004–2010).
He was director of two laboratories in the field of archaeometry and 3D technologies (formerly IRAMAT-CRP2A and ARCHEOVISION). Professor Chapoulie is currently a researcher at the UMR 6034 Archéosciences Bordeaux, and director of the Archeovision platform (3D technologies).
- Rémy Chapoulie's CV: https://cv.hal.science/remy-chapoulie
- Biography on ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9959-7940
- Biography on IdRef: https://www.idref.fr/03359662X
- Web page: https://www.archeosciences-bordeaux.fr/_Chapoulie-Remy
Jon Yngve Hardeberg
Jon Yngve Hardeberg is Professor of Colour Imaging at the Department of Computer Science at NTNU (The Norwegian University of Science and Technology). He is a member of the Colourlab (http://www.colourlab.no), where he teaches, supervises MSc and PhD students, manages international study programs and research projects, and undertakes research in the field of colour imaging.
He received a civil engineer MSc in signal processing from the Norwegian Institute of Technology in Trondheim in 1995, and a PhD from Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications in Paris in 1999.
His current research interests include spectral imaging, image quality, colour management, material appearance, and cultural heritage imaging. He has co-authored more than 400 publications within the field. He has led several research projects funded by the Research Council of Norway, been NTNU's representative in two Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degrees (CIMET and COSI), and the coordinator of three Marie Curie ITN projects (CP7.0, ApPEARS, CHANGE).
Calin Steindal
Calin Steindal has been active in cultural heritage research at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, since 2013. With a strong background in organic chemistry, he completed his PhD at the University of Oslo in 2010 and initially joined the Saving Oseberg project, where he served as a lab manager before transitioning to the role of researcher.
Throughout his career at the museum, Steindal has focused on applying various chromatographic methods to analyze heritage materials such as archaeological sediments, ceramics, textiles, paintings, polychrome objects, and conservation materials.
He also utilizes advanced spectroscopic techniques like X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR). Additionally, his research explores the use of Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity (UPV) techniques to study the mechanical properties of new conservation materials.
Bia Fonseca
POLYCHROME post-doc, 5 May-17 Oct 2025
Photo: Private
Bia Fonseca was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the POLYCHROME project (May-October 2025). She has worked as a scientist and an artifact conservator at different international institutions. In 2022, she earned a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Copenhagen with a project focusing on the degradation patterns of ancient proteins in the archaeological record, followed by three years as a postdoc and guest researcher at the Globe Institute in Copenhagen.
Advisory Board
- Kristin B. Aavitsland, Professor of Medieval Christendom and director of the Norwegian Institute in Rome.
- Rémy Chapoulie, Professor of Physics for Archaeometry at the University Bordeaux, Montaigne.
- Tine Frøysaker, Professor of Painting Conservation at the University of Oslo.
- Jon Yngve Hardeberg, Professor of Colour Imaging at NTNU.
- Martin Wangsgaard Jürgensen, Editor, Danmarks kirker at the National Museum of Denmark.
- Lena Liepe, Professor of Art History at the Linnæus University.
- Michele Marincola, Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Professor of Conservation at Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
- Jón Viðar Sigurðsson, Professor of Medieval History at the University of Oslo.
- Merete Winness, Head of Properties and Museums at the National Trust of Norway.