Happy New Year from the Michigan State Forensic Anthropology Lab!
The end of 2019 has brought with it the end of the fall semester at the MSUFAL. Because this past fall has flown by, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on what we have accomplished (instead of dwelling on all of those impending deadlines for manuscripts, grants, and course prep ahead of us). This fall, the lab initiated a new blog (welcome!) and a more active presence on social media to emphasize the important work we do for the public, our friends, our families, and our colleagues in academia.
Collectively, our lab has been busy! We analyzed a large number of forensic cases, processed multiple donations to our collection, and assisted law enforcement on multiple recoveries; we also re-analyzed 2 cold cases (1 of which is now identified); published 9 articles/book chapters; were awarded 13 grants/scholarships; developed 4 software programs; collaborated with over 12 universities, institutions, and museums (nationally and internationally including Texas State University, Western Michigan University School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, University at Buffalo, University of New Hampshire, University College London, Teesside University, Arizona State University, Purdue University, University of Bordeaux, the Museum of London, and Il Museo Archeologico e d’Arte della Maremma); we attended and presented at 5 conferences; and facilitated a 1 week training course for the Michigan State Police. All while continuing work on numerous ongoing multidisciplinary research projects and consuming dozens of Groovy Doughnuts and infinite cups of extremely strong coffee. Needless to say, we couldn’t have done any of this without the support of the Michigan State University, Department of Anthropology, the constant encouragement from each of the 10 people in our lab and, again, doughnuts and coffee.
This past semester also came with a number of changes and firsts. We welcomed Dr. Joe Hefner into the lab director position. Dr. Hefner seamlessly transitioned into his new role, while continuing his research and mentoring his four PhD students in their various research projects. Dr. Todd Fenton served his first semester as the chair of the Department of Anthropology, working with PhD student Elena Watson to increase communication and collaborative work within the department. The MSUFAL welcomed assistant professor Dr. Carolyn Isaac to the lab. We are extremely lucky to have her back at MSU! This past semester she taught a graduate seminar concentrating on comparative medical and dental radiography and its role in identification. Dr. Isaac has already defined herself as a wonderful mentor to all of the graduate and undergraduate students in our department.
MSUFAL graduate students experienced a lot of ‘firsts’ this fall as well. Third year PhD student, Elena Watson, served her first semester as the Department of Anthropology Research Assistant and as the Graduate Student in Anthropology (GSA) Treasurer. Her research this semester focused on preparing for her dissertation research, which examines malaria in medieval Nubia. She was also integral to a lateral foot comparative radiography validation study with MSU faculty, Dr. Isaac and Dr. Fenton, MSU alumna Valerie Leah & Dr. Jered Cornelison (Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine). Before starting the semester, Elena traveled to Tuscany, Italy to finish a five-year project on an early Middle Ages skeletal sample from the site of Roselle with Dr. Fenton and fellow PhD students. Elena presented on their research at the 9th annual meeting of the Forest, Lakes, and Grasslands (FLAG) Forensic Anthropologists in the fall (check out our previous blog on the FLAG conference). The team is currently working on a paper that discusses their findings on the presence of malaria and non-local individuals at the Roselle cemetery.
Micayla Spiros, a second year PhD student, returned to Michigan after a summer of collecting cranial macromorphoscopic (MMS) data in London and working on casework, cold cases, & a NAGPRA repatriation case with Dr. Jennifer Love as an intern with the DC Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Last semester she served her first semester as the GSA Information Officer and as the Anthropology representative for the MSU Council of Graduate Students. She worked as the teaching assistant for “ANP 200: Navigating another Culture” while taking courses. Micayla also spent the semester continuing research on postcranial and cranial MMS traits. She had her first Journal of Forensic Sciences article published with Dr. Hefner, which focused on utilizing cranial and postcranial MMS traits for ancestry estimation. The article introduces their newly developed, open-source Shiny web-based application, ComboMaMDAnalytical, which allows practitioners to implement the method in casework utilizing an artificial neural network model. Along with this research, she spent the semester analyzing data focusing on the implementation of eye tracking to assess decision-making in cranial MMS trait evaluation, exploring the implications of education level in collaboration with Drs. Sherry Nakhaeizadeh, Tim Thompson, Ruth Morgan, and Joe Hefner.
Fourth year PhD student, Kelly Kamnikar, is the current research assistant on an NIJ funded grant “Investigation of subadult dental age-at-death estimation using transitional analysis and machine learning methods”. This project is investigating the possibilities of dental age estimation using transition analysis and creating a standardized data collection and analysis computer program. As part of the grant, she ran a workshop at the 2019 ALAF conference in Peru titled “Análisis Transicional para la Estimación de la Edad Biológica” (check out her blog post about her experience). During the Michigan State Police training, Kelly gave a lecture explaining the importance and misconceptions surrounding ancestry estimation in forensic anthropology and the methods used to estimate the geographic origin of an unknown individual. She had a publication in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology focused on the Index of Care from the Holliston Mills site in Tennessee. Kelly is preparing to take her comprehensive exams and defend her proposal.
PhD candidate, Mari Isa, is finishing her National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship funded dissertation research, focusing on utilizing biomechanical experiments on human bone to investigate how various factors influence blunt force fracture patterns. Mari has also been busy this semester giving lectures for the public and the forensic science communities. In September she lectured for the Michigan State Police on the methods of sex estimation in forensic anthropology. In October, Mari was the invited speaker for the 2019 Forensic Science Lecture Series at the Indiana Medical History Museum. She gave a public lecture, titled “The Science of Broken Bones,” highlighting her research on fracture patterns and trauma. Mari also traveled to Minneapolis, Minnesota to present research at the 36th Annual Forensic Science Seminar of the Minnesota Coroners’ and Medical Examiners’ Association. Mari is excited to be collaborating with the Trans Doe Task Force and Dr. Amy Michael (MSU alumna) from the University of New Hampshire on a project aimed at drawing attention to obstacles to, and potential avenues toward, identifying transgender and gender variant individuals in forensic cases.
Alex Goots, fourth year PhD student, has been focusing on her dissertation this semester as a Michigan State University Distinguished Fellow. Following her return from a joint summer excavation with the Impero Archaeological project, Alex dove headfirst into her dissertation research, which involves the identification of migrants in Early Medieval Tuscany through craniometric analysis. Between her preparation for her comprehensive exams, Alex lectured for the Michigan State Police on the use of stature in forensic anthropology, delivered an introductory lecture on forensic anthropology to aspiring forensic odontologists with Elena Watson, and spoke on the application of modern skeletal analyses to medieval Italian remains at the Institute for European and Mediterranean Archaeology at the University at Buffalo. Alex has also been involved in several interesting forensic cases, resulting in manuscripts which will address the practical effects of cognitive bias in forensic anthropology case work. She also donated what is arguably the most important tool to our lab, a tool magically designed to increase productivity and community: a new coffee machine.
Amber Plemons, fourth year PhD student, has been serving her first semester as the MSUFAL lab manager. As lab manager, she has been carrying out casework, updating lab protocols, and preparing a new database system for the donated skeletal collection. She is preparing her dissertation research, which will measure the influence of climate and genetics on craniofacial morphology and how these causative forces shape global craniofacial variation. Amber also serves as the GSA Vice President, created the new MSUFAL website, and gave a lecture to the Michigan State Police on the methodological approaches to age estimation in forensic anthropology. She is a Campus Archaeology Program (CAP) Fellow helping with outreach including the Michigan Archaeology Day and the Apparitions and Archaeology Haunted Campus Tour where she had the opportunity to ‘takeover’ the university’s Instagram story. As a CAP fellow, she is helping to build a database for CAP artifacts and is creating the first archaeology badge event for Michigan Girl Scouts. Amber was also accepted into the 2020 Visiting Scientist Program within the Forensic Anthropology Unit at the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME).
First year PhD student, Rhian Dunn, has had a busy first semester at MSU. This semester she joined the MSU CAP Staff, helping with several outreach programs, such as Apparitions and Archaeology, as well as her own CAP project to build an ArcGIS map of all the sites excavated over the years. In addition to her first semester of coursework, she was the first author on a forensic anthropology review article which she completed under the College of Social Science Dean’s Fellowship. Rhian was featured as our first “MSUFAL Student Spotlight” (which you can check out in our previous blog post) as the newest PhD student in our program.
Needless to say, Fall 2019 was a busy semester, and we absolutely enjoyed the break over the past couple of weeks. With the start of Spring 2020, we are excited to get back into the swing of things, keeping you updated on all things MSUFAL. Look out for our next blog in the upcoming weeks and throughout the spring semester as we interview alumni, release lab updates, recap the annual American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference, and so much more.
Thank you for sticking with us through this semester of firsts and Happy New Year!
Authored by: Micayla Spiros
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