Microorganisms and monuments: forty years of Heritage conservation

From the seminal studies about the problems of conservation of Vazquez Diaz’s mural paintings “Poema del Descubrimiento”, during the final 1970’s until today, the research trajectory of Cesáreo Sáiz Jiménez encompasses almost 40 years of continuous effort addressed to understand and help in the conservation of Cultural assets, especially of built heritage (historic buildings and monuments as well as archaeological sites) and subterranean heritage (with an especial dedication to caves, with or without rock art, and subterranean necropolis). This long and continuously updated research trajectory reached multiple goals, as could be the assessment of deterioration processes, the description of new species of microorganisms for the science, or the rendez-vous of different research groups by means of multiple collaborative initiatives. In the meantime, he also contributed to the formation of a human capital that integrated a multidisciplinary research group, continuously enriched by different approaches and techniques. The purpose of this contribution is to enlighten the role of Dr. Sáiz Jiménez along almost four decades dedicated to the applied investigation on the conservation of Cultural Heritage.