Teaching Forensic Field Recovery, a five-week forensic anthropology field school. Image by UWF Institutional Communications.
TEACHING AWARDS
Career Development and Community Engagement High-Impact Practices (“HIP”) Showcase: Best Internship/Field Experience (“Crime Scene Archaeology: Unearthing Forensic Science at UWF's Forensic Anthropology Field School”), 2023 (University of West Florida)
Student Government Association Distinguished Teaching Award, 2022 (University of West Florida)
Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, 2021 (University of West Florida)
High-Impact Practices Grant, 2021 and 2022 (University of West Florida)
Graduate Student Teaching Award, 2015 (University of Florida)
COURSES TAUGHT
University of West Florida (2017-present)
Advanced Methods in Biological Anthropology This graduate course provided a comprehensive practical introduction to analytical methods utilized in forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, and other bioanthropological subdisciplines. Via an extensive reading list inspired by the ABFA certification examination, laboratory instruction, and practical application to a full osteological analysis, grad students gained proficiency in: bone development and biomechanics; traditional biological profile analyses; trauma and taphonomic analyses; advanced statistical methods for age estimation; biodistance analyses; fragmentary human remains identification; and dental metric and morphological approaches to estimating population affinity.
Evolutionary Theory This seminar allowed graduate students to engage with key concepts in evolutionary and social theory and to explore the trajectories of current bioanthropological research. Each student acted as discussion leader three times per semester, and all students contributed questions to guide daily discussions. Comprehension of the theoretical underpinnings of paleoanthropology, forensic anthropology, and bioarchaeology was assessed via two essay exams, a research proposal, and an end-of-term conference-style research presentation.
Forensic Anthropology (in person; online) An in-depth examination of the subdiscipline, the course provided an overview of forensic anthropological method and theory, highlighted by case studies from medicolegal, human rights, military, and mass disaster contexts. In the in-person version of the course, students culminated their study of forensic anthropology by producing and presenting academic-stye posters in an end-of-term poster symposium attended by UWF faculty and students. In the online version, they worked through activities and exercises that simulated field and lab scenarios, guided by lectures, supplemental videos, and the foundational literature of the field.
Forensic Field Recovery This comprehensive, 5-week “forensic anthropology field school” introduced undergraduates and graduate students to the principles of archaeological search, recovery, and documentation within the medicolegal context. Students learned to apply basic methods of archaeological mapping and excavation to simulated forensic scenes involving both surface-scattered and buried skeletal remains. They also learned to distinguish human from non-human remains and gained experience with explicitly forensic procedures of evidence recovery, such as evidence documentation and collection, site security, and the use of appropriate personal protective equipment for different simulated scenarios.
Human Origins This course offered undergraduate and graduate students a deep dive into the evolution of hominin cognition and behavior, as indicated by hominin skeletal and dental morphology. Students undertook extensive practical study of human and hominin casts during the completion of weekly laboratory activities, contextualized with lectures, discussions, and engagement with the paleoanthropology literature.
Human Osteology and Osteology Laboratory This practical course (and weekly lab) introduced undergraduates and graduate students to the concepts and methods used in the analysis of human remains from forensic and archaeological contexts. Mastery of skeletal and dental anatomy and analytical methods was tested through weekly cumulative practical quizzes, osteology lab notebooks, and written assignments.
Modern Human Physical Variation This combined undergraduate/graduate course provided an evolutionary perspective on biological variation in modern humans, a cultural context for how misinterpretations of human variation have been historically misused, and a framework for learning from and rectifying the mistakes of the past. Lectures and in-class discussions were supplemented by written engagement with texts by Nina Jablonski, Vanessa Northington Gamble, David Hurst Thomas, Stephen Jay Gould, and others.
Primatology This combined undergraduate/graduate course gave an overview of the living primates through lectures, in-class interactions, and lab activities utilizing osseous remains and cast material. Students gained an appreciation for the diversity of living primates through the study of modern non-human primate taxonomy, evolution, skeletal traits, locomotor behaviors, feeding ecology, social systems, reproductive strategies, conservation issues, and primatological methods.
University of New Hampshire (2016-2017)
Blood, Bones, and Burials: Ritual Use of Human Remains Cross-Culturally In this seminar, undergraduates engaged with archaeological and ethnographic literature to explore human mortuary practices and other ritual uses of human remains across the world and through time.
Introduction to Forensic Anthropology This undergraduate lecture course outlined concepts underlying the recovery and analysis of human remains, the determination of the biological profile (including age, sex, ancestry, and stature), and the interpretation of skeletal trauma and pathology. Lectures were supplemented by daily discussions, in-class lab activities, and collaborative student presentations.
The Human Story: Evolution, Fossils, and DNA This undergraduate lecture course introduced students to the sub-discipline of Biological Anthropology. Students engaged with evolutionary theory, extinct and extant primate behavior and anatomy, the remains of fossil hominins, and modern human biological variation in order to gain an understanding of the evolution and emergence of humanity.
World Archaeological Cultures: North America This undergraduate lecture course explored North American prehistory from earliest settlement to European contact (including the regions of the Arctic, Plains, Northeast, Southeast, Northwest, and Southwest).
University of Florida (2012-2016)
Skeleton Keys (UF Honors Program) This course introduced undergraduates to forensic anthropology theory and methods via lectures, case studies, practical exercises, and discussion-led, team-based learning exercises.
Human Osteology This practical laboratory course provided advanced UF undergraduates with an in-depth exploration of human skeletal anatomy and fragmentary osteology via lectures, practical examinations, and hands-on laboratory exercises. I received a UF Graduate Student Teaching Award for excellence in teaching Human Osteology, 2014-2015.
Skeleton Keys Online I taught the online version of this popular undergraduate forensic anthropology course after developing the course with Carrie A Brown, in collaboration with the UF Center for Instructional Technology & Training. Skeleton Keys Online incorporated simulated crime-scene, laboratory, and field-recovery exercises emphasizing creative problem solving and enabling motivated, engaged distance learning.
Bugs, Bones, and Botany This short course offered by UF's Maples Center for Forensic Medicine taught law-enforcement and medical-examiner personnel forensic anthropology laboratory and field-recovery protocols.