Ahmed Lachhab, co-department head and associate professor of earth & environmental sciences at Susquehanna University, has been awarded a grant from the prestigious and international Getty Foundation.
The funding will support his participation in a conference of the International Committee for the Conservation of Mosaics in Athens, Greece, where Lachhab will present to scholars from around the world how he uses ground-penetrating radar to help archeologists preserve ancient Roman mosaics at Volubilis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northwestern Morocco.
At Volubilis, Lachhab uses laser-level surveying, drone photogrammetry and GPR to identify rippling and sinking. He follows this with a drone to take a series of detailed photographs of these mosaics and creates 3D photogrammetry models and orthomosaics maps (a series of photos pieced together to create larger detailed images) to inspect surface features and accurately measure their spatial dimensions. Finally, Lachhab surveys the mosaics using GPR to collect 2D profiles and create 3D diagrams of the mosaic layer.
“I believe my work is a breakthrough in the field of archaeology,” Lachhab said, “and I am grateful to the Getty Foundation for taking an interest in it and supporting my efforts to share my techniques with scholars in the field.”
The Getty Foundation was established in 1984 to support the mission of the J. Paul Getty Trust, which is an international cultural organization that includes the Getty Conservation Institute, Getty Foundation, Getty Research Institute and J. Paul Getty Museum. The foundation awards grants internationally in art history, art and cultural preservation, museums and archival collections and professional development.
