A warm welcome to Rhian Dunn, our newest MSUFAL lab member! Rhian is currently a first year Research Assistant here at Michigan State University with a College of Social Science Dean’s Fellowship. Rhian is from California where she attended UC Santa Barbara, majoring in Biological Anthropology with a minor in Classics. After finishing her undergraduate degree, she continued on to Mercyhurst University, where she received a master’s degree in Anthropology with a Forensic and Biological Concentration. After finishing her Master’s, Rhian spent one year teaching undergraduate courses in forensic anthropology at Mercyhurst.
Rhian became interested in anthropology during her undergraduate coursework. She was drawn to forensic anthropology because it allows anthropologists to help members of the local community while assisting medicolegal professionals and law enforcement. Her favorite aspect of the field is the collaborative research and the opportunities to pursue new avenues of analysis, from more advanced statistical approaches to investigating the utility of novel technologies, which she believes reflects the field’s constant drive to create more accurate and reliable methods. Thus far, the most fulfilling experience she has had in the field was the opportunity to assist board certified forensic anthropologists at the medical examiner’s office in Puerto Rico earlier this year. This experience taught her how forensic anthropologists heed the call to identify those without a name while working alongside law enforcement, human rights activists, and other anthropologists to assist communities. That experience, more than any other, reaffirmed her passion for forensic anthropology.
Now enrolled as a PhD student in her first year at MSU, Rhian’s current research interests include investigating the value of the metric analysis of postcranial elements for ancestry estimation. Her master’s thesis focused on measurements of vertebral elements, a project she hopes to continue. She chose MSU because of the immense resources available for students, including the opportunity to work in the forensic anthropology lab, the support for pursuing research, and the course work. After graduation, she would like to secure a tenure track position and continue her research program in an academic environment.
During her first semester in East Lansing, Rhian seamlessly fit right into the close-knit community we have in the forensic lab. Working on a large number of projects, she is considerate, supportive, and simultaneously lightens the mood with her perfectly executed deadpan humor. She has already worked on an article with other MSUFAL members, assisted with forensic recoveries and casework analyses, and has continued to engage with her cohort in her classes. Apart from forensic anthropology, Rhian loves to cook and try new recipes, although she has a tendency to get lost in the black hole of Buzzfeed Tasty videos. She did impress the department with the Spam musubi she brought to the Anthropology Department Picnic in August. Being from California, Rhian really misses good Mexican food and she is already well-known by the staff at the taco truck, El Oasis, conveniently located too close to her apartment. When asked what advice she has for undergraduate students interested in biological anthropology she replied:
“Definitely try to get involved even if it might seem daunting– experience such as working in a lab, helping with a research project, or attending a short course can help you figure out what interests you the most about the field! It’s hard to get a real feel for what you want to do until you get the chance to try it for yourself.”
This advice epitomizes Rhian’s personality, both personally and professionally, as a thoughtful and open-minded mentor and coworker. Needless to say, Rhian is a wonderful addition to the MSUFAL team and we are extremely excited to welcome her to the lab!
Authored by: Micayla Spiros
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