Forensic Anthropology (PDF)

MariaTeresa A. Tersigni-Tarrant, Ph.D., is a forensic anthropologist at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Commands Central Identification Laboratory and is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. She received her bachelor's degrees in microbiology and anthropology from Michigan State University in 2000 as a student of Dr. Norman J. Sauer, Ph.D., D-ABFA. She received her M.A. (2002) and Ph.D. (2005) in physical anthropology from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville as a student of Dr. Murray Marks, Ph.D., D-ABFA. Dr. Tersigni-Tarrant was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship in 2005 at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Commands Central Identification Laboratory. During this fellowship, she was instrumental in establishing standard operating procedures for the histological analysis of human remains for the purpose of identifying missing armed service members. Until June 2012, Dr. Tersigni-Tarrant was the consulting forensic anthropologist for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Her research interests include bone biology, human and nonhuman histology, child abuse'specifically patterned fractures and timing of healing human decomposition research, bone pathology, and developmental anatomy.

Natalie R. Shirley, Ph.D., is an assistant professor of anatomy at LMU DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Tennessee Anthropology Department. She received her B.A. (1998) and M.A. (2001) in anthropology from Louisiana State University and her Ph.D. (2009) from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville as a student of Dr. Richard Jantz, Director Emeritus of the Forensic Anthropology Center. Her postdoctoral research (Improving Sex Estimation from Crania Using 3-Dimensional CT Scans) was sponsored by the National Institute of Justice. Dr. Shirley's research interests include skeletal maturation in modern populations, age and sex e