Boston University Medical Campus
Forensic Anthropology

Recent graduates from the MS Program in Forensic Anthropology have been chosen to present their thesis research at the American Academy of Forensic Science Annual Meeting (February 2012) in Atlanta, GA.

• Ms. Alexandra Wink will be presenting her thesis work Pubic Symphyseal Age Estimation From Three-Dimensional Reconstructions of Pelvic CT Scans of Live Individuals as an oral presentation on Thursday February 23rd at 10:30 am.
• Ms. Sarah Peacock and Dr. Debra Prince-Zinni will have a poster presentation Thursday February 23rd at 11:30 am titled Craniometric and Non-Metric Assessment of Skulls of Hispanic Descent
• Ms. Corinne Tandy and Dr. Donald Siwek will have a poster presentation Thursday February 23rd at 11:30 am titled Changes to the Integrity of Bone Marrow During Decomposition

Congratulations to Alexandra, Corrine, and Sarah.

The Forensic Anthropology program welcomed Elias Kontanis, Ph.D and Mr. Erik Grosof from the National Transportation Safety Board to the Medical Campus on November 9th, 2011. Dr. Kontanis and Mr. Grosof spoke to students and faculty in a seminar An Introduction to NTSB: Operational & Medicolegal Aspects of Airline Crash Investigations and then provided an in-depth lecture in the Advanced Crime Scene course in the Forensic Anthropology and Biomedical Forensic Sciences programs.

The MS program in Forensic Anthropology is welcoming 22 new students this fall. Students are joining us from many parts of the United States and Canada and have impressive undergraduate records. Many joining the program come with experience in archaeological field experience and have completed internships with medical examiners, law enforcement and forensic anthropologists. Welcome everyone and hope you have a wonderful and productive year!

We are excited to announce the addition of three new faculty members to our Program, Dr. James Pokines, Mr. Jon Bethard and SSA Gary Reinecke, retired FBI.

Dr. James Pokines is a Board Certified Forensic Anthropologist and joins us from the JPAC-CIL in Honolulu and Mr. Bethard is from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.  They bring experience with human remains recovery, taphonomy, vertebrate osteology, zooarchaeology, taphonomy, and paleoecology to the program. They will be teaching courses in the methods, techniques and procedures used by forensic anthropologists, establishing research studies and preparing grant submissions.

SSA Gary Reinecke retired from the FBI in December after 24 years of service and joined our faculty in January 2011. He joined the FBI in 1986 and in 1998 was promoted and transferred to the FBI Laboratory where he was assigned to the Evidence Response Team (ERT) program. SSA Reinecke managed operational matters for the ERT program and developed several training courses for ERT agents including the Human Remains Recovery School at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. For more information, please see our Faculty page.

The program hosted a two-day course in Forensic Entomology with Dr. Ian Dadour from the University of Western Australia.  Dr. Dadour is a renowned forensic entomologist whose research interests include the forensic application of insects to decomposition in a variety of environments. He responds to crime scenes throughout Australia as requested by law enforcement. He has testified in several criminal cases and much of his research has resulted from these cases and he lectures throughout Australia, Asia, Europe and Africa.  Dr. Dadour has published extensively and has taught in the FBI Human Remains Recovery School at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville for the past 8 years.  Lectures in the course were also taught by Ms. Paola A. Magni from the University of Turino.  Ms. Magni is currently working on her Ph.D with Dr. Dadour.

We are proud to announce that our first class of students graduated on May 20^th, 2011.  Of the twelve graduates, several are planning to continue their education in Ph.D. programs while others are applying for positions with the military, government agencies and research laboratories. Congratulations on your hard work, perseverance and successful completion of your MS degree. Best wishes in your future endeavors.

CSI: BU Edition

BU offers nation’s only master’s in forensic anthropology

The forensics lab is Hollywood-perfect: cramped, fluorescent-lit, skeletal remains splayed on five tables under a ceiling that’s cracked and discolored in spots. At one table, students Danielle Trull-Donahue and David Agoada pore over a heartbreaking cache—the tiny bones of a child—trying to decipher all they can about the human being that these remains once were.

Welcome to the School of Medicine’s Forensic Anthropology Program, which offers the country’s only master’s degree in this discipline. more…

The Program in Forensic Anthropology hosted the FBI’s Mapping of Skeletal Remains course last week at the program’s training facility in Holliston, MA. Fourteen agents participated in the course led by Dr. Debra Prince-Zinni, D-ABFA, Dr. Joanne Devlin (University of Tennessee) and the FBI’s Operational Unit on standardized methodologies for the mapping of skeletal remains.

For more information on this course, see the story published in the Holliston Reporter.

It is our pleasure to announce that the first student, Peter Colleran, has graduated from the Forensic Anthropology Program. Peter transferred to our program from the Biomedical Forensic Sciences program at Boston University School of Medicine and was an exceptional student who excelled in all of our classes and demonstrated tremendous leadership. His thesis research, “Decomposition in Water: The Effects of Climate on the Rate of Decay in New England” was presented at the American Academy of Forensic Science annual meeting in February and was the first research project completed at our outdoor research facility. Congratulations Peter!

We are very pleased to announce that our Forensic Anthropologist, Dr. Debra Prince-Zinni, has received her Diplomate Certification from the American Board of Forensic Anthropology.

The American Board of Forensic Anthropology is a non-profit organization that provides a program of certification in forensic anthropology similar to  certifying boards in medicine and other scientific fields. Diplomates of the ABFA are uniquely qualified in forensic anthropology and have demonstrated an extraordinary professional record of education, training, experience, and achievement.  Diplomate status with the ABFA denotes the highest achievement in the field of forensic anthropology and certification requires completion of a rigorous examination. Dr. Prince-Zinni is the 85th Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. This is truly a momentous achievement and we are privileged and honored to have Dr. Prince-Zinni as a faculty member, instructor and mentor in our program in Forensic Anthropology.