About Me
My academic journey began in 2007 at Mercyhurst College where I majored in Applied Forensic Sciences with concentrations in Forensic Anthropology and Criminalistics/Forensic Biology. In the following years, I worked within the Forensic Sciences Department, assisting with the maceration of human and nonhuman collections material, case database management, skeletal collections management, and burn grant research. During this time, I also completed an internship with the Erie County Medical Examiner's Office in Buffalo, NY. My undergraduate research examined cranial measurements of white-tailed deer, bobcats, and house cats, demonstrating how the addition of outgroups masked taxonomic and populational differences in multivariate analyses.
In 2011, I stayed at Mercyhurst (now a University) to complete the Master's program in Forensic and Biological Anthropology. During this time, I was able to assist with approximately 40 forensic cases, performing various tasks, including: scene recovery, photographic and written documentation, maceration, labeling, radiography, skeletal trauma analysis, metric and nonmetric analyses for estimation of the biological profile, skeletal reconstruction, GIS, taphonomic analyses, casting age markers, and report writing. I managed the departmental work studies, as well as the zooarchaeological and human skeletal collections. Mercyhurst is also where I developed a strong passion for teaching, assisting with various classes throughout the department. My graduate research focused on the validation of microscopic saw mark analysis and the benefits of using experimental designs in forensic anthropological research. This work was presented as a poster at AAFS in 2014.
In 2014, I went to pursue a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh (graduated 2020), with a focus in Physical/Biological Anthropology, to continue research in the field of skeletal trauma. The purpose of my dissertation research is to investigate the effects of tissue variability (through use of different taxa of known sex and age) on the accuracy and precision of tooth hop measurements in bone to estimate tooth size of the saw blade. This will aid in the creation of error rates associated with tooth hop measurements and their ability to reflect teeth-per-inch ranges for suspect blades. Results indicate that while there are significant differences in mean/variance amongst tooth hop measurements (mm) collected from human, pig, and deer femora, these significant differences are masked by having to convert these measurements to teeth-per-inch ranges of saw blades. Therefore, fresh pig and deer femora may be substituted for human tissue in instances where tissue hardness is the primary tissue property influencing the presence and appearance of skeletal trauma.
When not utilizing human bone, researchers often select bones from pig or deer. Saw mark validation studies are not the only instances where animal proxies have been substituted for human bone; they have also been included in other skeletal trauma analysis studies involving sharp force trauma, blunt force trauma, and/or burning. We as readers are often not presented with or even know as a researcher developing the study, the life and medical history of the selected tissues (i.e., age, sex, diet, pathological conditions, general bone strength and mechanical properties, if or how long the tissue had been frozen, and other relevant information of individuals in the study). These factors can influence bone material and mechanical properties, which limits the applicability and comparability between studies or when comparing their results to human cases. This issue is where I intend to focus my future research
In August of 2020, I joined Clarkson University's Department of Physical Therapy and currently coordinate the gross anatomy labs for physical therapy students during the musculoskeletal and cardiopulmonary semesters, as well as teach the gross anatomy course for our occupational therapy students.
In 2011, I stayed at Mercyhurst (now a University) to complete the Master's program in Forensic and Biological Anthropology. During this time, I was able to assist with approximately 40 forensic cases, performing various tasks, including: scene recovery, photographic and written documentation, maceration, labeling, radiography, skeletal trauma analysis, metric and nonmetric analyses for estimation of the biological profile, skeletal reconstruction, GIS, taphonomic analyses, casting age markers, and report writing. I managed the departmental work studies, as well as the zooarchaeological and human skeletal collections. Mercyhurst is also where I developed a strong passion for teaching, assisting with various classes throughout the department. My graduate research focused on the validation of microscopic saw mark analysis and the benefits of using experimental designs in forensic anthropological research. This work was presented as a poster at AAFS in 2014.
In 2014, I went to pursue a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh (graduated 2020), with a focus in Physical/Biological Anthropology, to continue research in the field of skeletal trauma. The purpose of my dissertation research is to investigate the effects of tissue variability (through use of different taxa of known sex and age) on the accuracy and precision of tooth hop measurements in bone to estimate tooth size of the saw blade. This will aid in the creation of error rates associated with tooth hop measurements and their ability to reflect teeth-per-inch ranges for suspect blades. Results indicate that while there are significant differences in mean/variance amongst tooth hop measurements (mm) collected from human, pig, and deer femora, these significant differences are masked by having to convert these measurements to teeth-per-inch ranges of saw blades. Therefore, fresh pig and deer femora may be substituted for human tissue in instances where tissue hardness is the primary tissue property influencing the presence and appearance of skeletal trauma.
When not utilizing human bone, researchers often select bones from pig or deer. Saw mark validation studies are not the only instances where animal proxies have been substituted for human bone; they have also been included in other skeletal trauma analysis studies involving sharp force trauma, blunt force trauma, and/or burning. We as readers are often not presented with or even know as a researcher developing the study, the life and medical history of the selected tissues (i.e., age, sex, diet, pathological conditions, general bone strength and mechanical properties, if or how long the tissue had been frozen, and other relevant information of individuals in the study). These factors can influence bone material and mechanical properties, which limits the applicability and comparability between studies or when comparing their results to human cases. This issue is where I intend to focus my future research
In August of 2020, I joined Clarkson University's Department of Physical Therapy and currently coordinate the gross anatomy labs for physical therapy students during the musculoskeletal and cardiopulmonary semesters, as well as teach the gross anatomy course for our occupational therapy students.