Texas State University - San Marcos

Faculty Member, Anthropology

Other Affiliations: Florida International University, Biological Sciences

Director, Forensic Anthropology Center and Forensic Anthropology Research Laboratory

Arts and Sciences

About

B.A., magna cum laude Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, Anthropology, 1994.
M.A., Wichita State University, Wichita, KS, Biological Anthropology, 1996, Thesis title: Effect of Age on Sexual Dimorphism in the Adult Cranial Base and Upper Cervical Region.
Ph.D., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, 2001, Dissertation title: Structural Variation in the Humerus and Femur in the American Great Plains and Adjacent Regions.

I am a practicing forensic anthropologist, a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and an editorial board member of the Journal of Forensic Sciences. I conduct research in forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, and bone biomechanics. My research focuses on developing and testing forensic anthropological methods for reconstructing biological profiles and trauma patterns from human skeletal remains, reconstructing activity patterns and behavior in past populations using long bone biomechanics, and testing hypothesis regarding changes in human skeletal morphology due to evolutionary and secular forces.  I have received support for research from the Forensic Sciences Foundation, State Historical Society of Missouri, William M. Bass Endowment, Forensic Anthropology Center at the University of Tennessee, and other public and private institutions. HMy works have been published in a variety of journals including Journal of Forensic Sciences, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, Journal of Human Evolution, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, Plains Anthropologists, Missouri Anthropologist, Evolution: Education and Outreach, and others.  My skeletal biology research has been acknowledged by being highlighted twice in Science, included in forensic anthropology textbooks, and by receipt of the Ellis Kerley Award (2007) for excellence in forensic anthropology research.
 
I am also an award winning and dedicated teacher and mentor with experience directing undergraduate and graduate (MA and PhD) research. My students have successfully competed for research and travel funds from several organizations, gone on to fully-funded graduate programs, and found employment in the fields of their choice. I have also served on professional committees in the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, and the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology.

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