AP Winburn

10.18.23 The UWF Structural Vulnerability Profile (SVP) Radiograph Guide is now live! This guide to the use of CT imagery to interpret keletal and dental biomarkers of embodied inequity was conceived, researched, and prepared entirely by the graduate researchers of the UWF Biocultural Research Laboratory. Not only am I proud of their work, but I’m also proud to share this guide with the broader forensic and bioanth communities. I know that it will prove helpful for other researchers and caseworkers dedicated to documenting the effects of social marginalization on the hard tissues of the human body.

9.21.23 I had the honor of serving as the forensic anthropologist for the 2023 season of the Carlisle Barracks Disinterment Program. It was a privilege to work for the tribal families toward the return of their loved ones. You can read more about our efforts here.

4.24.23 Just got back from the AABAs in Reno; it was fantastic seeing old friends and connecting with new ones. I was particularly excited to collaborate with Chaunesey Clemmons, Stephanie Hartley, Katie Miller Wolf, and other wonderful coauthors on two posters. Check them out here!

3.29.23 Winburn and Stock (2019)…VALIDATED!!! Ariana Strasheim’s validation study came out today—“Utility of Osteoarthritis as an Indicator of Age in Human Skeletal Remains: Validating the Winburn and Stock (2019) Method.” It’s open access and curated within a super-cool Special Issue on Estimating Age in Forensic Anthropology in the journal Forensic Sciences. Thanks to editors Kanya Godde and Rebecca Taylor for supporting our submission! Everyone can immediately commence using osteoarthritis to estimate age now, kay byeeeee!!!! :D

3.1.23 It’s photo-shoot day at the UWF Biocultural Lab!!! Shout out to Joe Vinson, Morgan Givens, and the other awesome folks at UWF Institutional Communications for continuing to support our research and teaching! (They also made this amazing field school video for us a few years back)

2.15.23 Big thanks to the Society of Forensic Anthropologists (SOFA) for awarding me this year’s Atlas Research Grant to support my ongoing research on the skeletal and dental embodiment of social inequity. SOFA rocks!

11.7.22 I am particularly excited to share this one…

The faculty of UWF’s Biocultural Research Lab—Katie Miller Wolf, Meredith Marten, and I—have released the first publication related to our Wenner-Gren-funded research, “Visualizing Social Inequity.” Our research group has coined the term SVP, for “Structural Vulnerability Profile,” and we use anonymized, kin-contextualized CT data from forensic cases to investigate whether lived experiences of social marginalization are skeletally and dentally embodied in U.S. forensic case decedents. Stay tuned for more SVP work from our lab and our grad students, along with upcoming collaborations with Megan Moore, Jaymelee Kim, and other scholars committed to the application of a structural vulnerability framework to forensic anthropology.

3.25.22 The wonderful students of UWF’s Student Government Association presented me with the SGA’s 2022 Distinguished Teaching Award for the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities. This one is a big honor, as the students nominate, vote, and administer the award themselves. Super cool.

12.1.21 It has been really interesting engaging in a critical dialogue surrounding Chaun Clemmons’ and my Myth of Objectivity piece (see 9.23.21 below). I encourage everyone to follow this important conversation via a Letter to the Editor of FSI Synergy and our Response!

10.12.21 The second—yes, not one but TWO!—of UWF alumna Stephanie Hartley’s Journal of Forensic Sciences articles on cognitive bias in forensic anthropology is out today! Check out our paper on the biasability of metric methods, along with our previous work establishing a Hierarchy of Expert Performance for forensic anthropology.

10.1.21 My awesome graduate student Ilaisah Martinez was honored by the American Association of Biological Anthropologists as a 2021 IDEAS Scholar! Congrats, Ilaisah! I hope that you inspire many other students to apply to this fantastic opportunity to grow their networks and advance their bioanth careers.

9.24.21 Michelle Taylor of Forensic Magazine recently covered my co-authored, open-access FSI Synergy Perspectives Piece calling for revisions to the recently updated AAFS Vision, Mission, and Values Statements. In addition to providing an excellent summary of the original piece, the Forensic Magazine article highlights some powerful quotes from my co-authors.

9.23.21 It was honor and pleasure to collaborate with Chaunesey Clemmons once again—this time presenting our opinions on the Myth of Objectivity in FSI Synergy. We love that this journal is open access, so that our editorial is available to forensic scholars globally.

8.29.21 Nice press coverage of some important work released this week by Drs. Sean Tallman, Nicolette Parr, and me. Our analysis of 119 forensic anthropology papers published over the last 50 years indicates that while forensic anthropologists have replaced the term “race” with “ancestry,” we have not always changed our typological approaches—nor adequately defined, critiqued, or contextualized these terms. We need to do better, and my colleagues and I look forward to participating in our field’s efforts to do so.

3.26.21 I had the great honor of receiving my university’s Faculty Excellence in Teaching or Advising award for my teaching efforts at the University of West Florida. This has been a dream of mine for the past three years! At today’s Honors Convocation, it was also announced that my bioarchaeologist colleague Dr. Katie Miller Wolf and I were among the three early career scholars awarded UWF’s Distinction in Research and Scholarly Activities award! Go UWF BioAnthro!!!

2.22.21 Please take the time to check out the piece that my colleague Chaunesey Clemmons and I just wrote for Forensic Magazine. It’s called, “The Forensic Sciences’ Toxic Enganglement with the Myth of Objectivity,” and I think it’s pretty important.

11.16.20 My collaborator Antaya Jennings and I are in the news for our article on the need to increase ancestral diversity in donated skeletal collections!

10.22.20 The moment I have been waiting for…the first papers from the Forensic Anthropology special issue on Diversity and Inclusion are in early view!!!! These papers tackle issues surrounding ancestral diversity in donated skeletal collections and our field’s perspectives on diversity and inclusivity. They are, in my opinion, both timely and necessary. Keep checking the journal site for new articles going to press. We have a pretty amazing line up!

2.25.20 Introducing Diplomate #136 of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology! I could not be prouder—of all the great anthropologists who took the 2020 ABFA certification exam with me.

9.1.2019 The IDADE2 acetabular age estimation website is now live! My collaborators and I introduced this website via a recent publication in the AJPA. I am so pleased to share this easy-to-use version of the (formerly quite opaque and outdated!) IDADE2 software. Thanks to the new website, the SanMillan-Rissech acetabular aging method is infinitely more applicable. Age estimates and 95% CIs can now be generated with the click of a button—supported by acetabular observations of known-age skeletal individuals in relevant reference collections of the user’s choice. Check out our website, and let me know if you use IDADE2 in your casework or research!

8.9.2019 My student Leah Jordan presented the results of her summer 3D-scanning research at the UWF SURP Symposium today (images at right). In her comparative analysis of the success of different printing media in replicating the anatomical details of skeletal fragments, she found that powder prints had the best combination of low cost and high accuracy. While the fragment replicas are not sufficiently detailed to form the basis for teaching fragmentary Human Osteology, the prints (and the scans on which they were based) can enhance a whole-bone Osteology course for those of us whose institutions lack extensive and/or ethically sourced fragmentary skeletal collections. The STL files of her scans are available from the UWF Institutional Repository, where users with .edu email addresses can request passwords for download. Students and educators can interact with them digitally, or print them out using the technology of their choice (we recommend powder, with appropriate post-processing stabilization). All fragments utilized in her project originated from anatomical skeletons curated at UF. Thanks to our collaborators at UF’s Pound Lab and Fab Lab for their assistance!

5.3.2019 Jessica James, a Kugelman Honors Scholar and one of UWF’s top undergrad anthropology majors, received her BA at the Honors Graduate Ceremony on Friday. Jess worked with me on her Honors thesis, “Meeting our Subject,” in which she analyzed one of the anatomical skeletons in the UWF skeletal collection, researched a possible population of origin, then scanned and 3D printed the skull and undertook a facial approximation using relevant soft-tissue-depth data. She found that while the scanning/printing technologies accurately reproduced the skull’s dimensions, many of the subtler skeletal and dental landmarks were obscured. Images of her poster presentation at the UWF Student Scholar Symposium (18 April 2019) appear below.

4.24.2019 My MA student Katy Patterson has been named the 2019 UWF Department of Anthropology “Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant” for her work TAing the labs for Introduction to Biological Anthropology and teaching the course online as Instructor of Record. Way to go, Katy! The department (and I) appreciate all of the hard work you do for us.

4.19.2019 Leah Jordan, one of our UWF anthro undergrad over-achievers, was just awarded Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) funding for her proposed project testing the ability of 3D printing technology to replicate human osseous fragments. For this inter-institutional collaboration, she will be traveling to Gainesville to scan fragmentary anatomical remains housed at UF, then experimenting with different printers and media to assess which (if any) succeeds at replicating skeletal landmarks in a way that could benefit future UWF students of fragmentary osteology. Stay tuned for her results!

4.4.19 Shy and I are honored to have received a Community Support Award from Sheriff Robert Johnson of the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office at the SRSO’s Awards Banquet (we are shown with two members of the SRSO CSU in the image above). Super proud of the collaborative recovery we did with this agency last year.

9.27.18 Allow me to introduce my first cohort of biological anthropology grads:  Julie Elias, Stephanie Hartley, and Shyiesha Carson (from left to right in the image at left).  Welcome, new UWF grad students! I’m looking forward to doing good work together, and I’m honored that you’ve chosen to study with me.

12.7.17  The end of the fall 2017 semester, and I can finally take a breath! This has been an amazing year:  I moved from New Hampshire, defended my doctoral dissertation, began an assistant professor position with the University of West Florida's awesome Department of Anthropology, and gave birth to my son! We are thrilled to be back in Florida, and I am loving Pensacola, UWF, and the department.

7.25.17  My interdisciplinary shark-scavenging research is getting some attention! Check out these stories from the Florida Museum of Natural History and the UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences about my recent collaboration with forensic anthropologist Michala Stock and ichthyologist (and curator of the International Shark Attack File!), George Burgess.

8.23.16  I am delighted to be joining the faculty of the University of New Hampshire as a Lecturer in Anthropology. Please browse all of the exciting work being done by my new UNH colleagues!

7.14.16  I really enjoyed sharing my research and work experiences from the military's Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (now the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency) with a group of pathologists, medico-legal investigators, and other ME personnel at the annual conference of the Florida Association of Medical Examiners (FAME) in Naples, FL.

3.29.16  The votes are in...I came in as Runner-Up in the UF "Three-Minute Thesis" (3MT®) Finals! It was so much fun to see the ten finalists' presentations.  You can see them all here - or check out my individual contribution here.  Congrats to Andrea Lin (First Place) and Pengxu Qi (People's Choice)!

3.12.16  I was recently chosen as one of the finalists for UF's 3MT® competition, where competitors present their doctoral research in short sound bites.  Stay tuned for the results of the competition!

1.22.16  Public conversations allow scientists to communicate their research to members of their communities.  I enjoy participating in UF's Talk Science With Me public-outreach program, which allows me to discuss with Alachua County residents how my osteoarthritis research can have a very real impact on their health and wellbeing.  Photos by Mark Winburn.

12.11.15  I had the privilege of speaking to a group of medical-examiner and law-enforcement personnel at the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner Department about the role of the forensic anthropologist in the medicolegal system.  Even more exciting, I got to connect with Dr. Rafael Martinez of Carlos Albizu University, whose anthropological and psychological research on Afro-Cuban ritual practices I have long admired.

12.2.15  UF recently welcomed a new president, Dr. W. Kent Fuchs.  Current Department Chair Dr. Susan deFrance organized the Anthropology Department informational booth at the president's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences open house, and zooarchaeologist Michael Wylde and I had the pleasure of manning the booth.  Visiting students liked my skull-cast display, but I think Michael's replica SW Florida shell tools won the day! Photos by Michelle Eusebio.

11.7.15  Just returned from an amazing trip to Boston to visit my good friend and colleague Dr. Jonathan Bethard and speak with his class of forensic anthropology MS students at Boston University.  It was really invigorating being in a city with such a rich academic culture, and chatting with students who are inspired by Jon's and my commitment to a holistic forensic anthropology.

9.21.15  Great news from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ):  I was awarded one of the 2015 NIJ Graduate Research Fellowships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (Grant #:  2015-R2-CX-0009), to support my doctoral dissertation research, “Skeletal Age Estimation in Modern U.S. Adults: The Effects of Activity, Body Mass, and Osteoarthritis on Age-Related Changes in the Acetabulum."  Details of my award, along with those of the other recipients, are available from the NIJ.

9.15.15  I spoke with UF's Lambda Alpha Anthropological Honors Society about my research on taphonomic indicators of shark-feeding activity (collaborators, Michala Stock of the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory and George Burgess, curator of the International Shark Attack File).  Thanks to Lambda Alpha president Madeleine Yeakle and supervisor Dr. John Krigbaum for this opportunity! 

8.23.15  "If These Bones Could Talk."  NPR released a great interview with the University of Tennessee's Dr. Dawnie W. Steadman, one of my anthropology heroes.  I even got a photographic shout-out from NPR Ed Digital Producer and Editor Elissa Nadworny for the dissertation research I was conducting using the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection.  Check out the story, photos, and audio files here.