BU Forensic Anthropology

BU Forensic Anthropology This program at Boston University School of Medicine is designed to teach students about biological anthropological theory and methods.

Last week during our Advanced Crime Scene class, the MA State Police Drone Unit gave a lecture and demonstration on the ...
08/27/2026

Last week during our Advanced Crime Scene class, the MA State Police Drone Unit gave a lecture and demonstration on the use of drones in law enforcement and public safety (mapping, large event security, search and rescue).

Speaking to the group are Lt. Brian Mahoney and Sergeant John Cronin.

Keep checking back to see what our students are up to this semester!

Meet our current students pt. 7! 🪶🐚🛥️Our next student spotlight is Rebecca! Rebecca is one of our second years working o...
08/25/2026

Meet our current students pt. 7! 🪶🐚🛥️

Our next student spotlight is Rebecca! Rebecca is one of our second years working on her thesis project “Gull scavenging of pig carcasses on Appledore Island, Maine.” The goal is to examine decomposition rates and the effect of scavengers in a New England environment, specifically a coastal one with seagulls.

Stay tuned for next week's spotlight!

Meet our current students pt.6! 🐕🐾🦴Meet Aedan. Aedan is a second year student in the Forensic Anthropology program curre...
08/17/2026

Meet our current students pt.6! 🐕🐾🦴

Meet Aedan. Aedan is a second year student in the Forensic Anthropology program currently working on her thesis titled "Bone Dispersal by Canids in New England Environment." Aedan is conducting one of a kind research, one of the first to explore bone dispersal patterns by coyotes. Something interesting Aedan has noticed thus far: "Coyotes like to tear up brightly colored silicone like rowdy dogs tear up toys."

Stay tuned for the next spotlight!

Meet our current students pt. 4! 📚💻🐾This week’s student spotlight is Madison! Madison is a second year student working o...
08/08/2026

Meet our current students pt. 4! 📚💻🐾

This week’s student spotlight is Madison! Madison is a second year student working on her thesis titled “Correlation between frontal sinus dimensions, facial traits, and cranial length.” She has been using 3D Slicer to create models of the frontal sinuses from CT scans from the New Mexico Decedent Image Database (NMDID). She is then comparing their dimensions to the maximum cranial length measurement and assigned scores for the glabella and supraorbital margin in order to examine if the frontal sinus is linked to cranial morphology.

Stay tuned for the next student spotlight!


Captain L’Italien is enjoying the summer with his granddaughter ‘Hazel’. He’s looking forward to the Advanced Crime Scen...
07/29/2026

Captain L’Italien is enjoying the summer with his granddaughter ‘Hazel’. He’s looking forward to the Advanced Crime Scene class which begins on Monday, August 10th. 🫆✨

Are you looking forward to the start of the semester?

Time to meet our current students pt.2!🕵️‍♀️🦒📝Yuri is currently a second year student at BU in the forensic anthropology...
07/27/2026

Time to meet our current students pt.2!🕵️‍♀️🦒📝

Yuri is currently a second year student at BU in the forensic anthropology program. Her thesis is titled "Pelvic Nonmetric S*x Estimation in Japanese Individuals." The goal of her project is that: "I'm trying to see whether the nonmetric s*x estimation methods on the pelves proposed by Phenice (1969), Klales et al. (2012) and Walker (2005) produce a high accuracy for Japanese individuals so that these methods could potentially be used in cases in Japan."

Stay tuned for our next student spotlight!!

Meet our current students pt. 3! 👩‍💻📖✈️Our next student spotlight is second year Sarah! Sarah’s thesis is titled “Skelet...
07/27/2026

Meet our current students pt. 3! 👩‍💻📖✈️

Our next student spotlight is second year Sarah! Sarah’s thesis is titled “Skeletal Analysis of Individuals from a Nobles’ Crypt in the Franciscan Convent of Chelva, Spain.” The goal of the project is to create biological profiles (estimating s*x, age-at-death, pathology, and more based on skeletal remains) for individuals interred within two crypts inside the church of the Franciscan Convent of Chelva, Spain, to confirm their identities as nobles in light of primary source documentation from the 17th-century indicating them as such.

Stay tuned for the next student spotlight coming up next week!

It's time to meet our current students! 🧌🐞✨Emma is currently a second year student at BU in the forensic anthropology pr...
07/14/2026

It's time to meet our current students! 🧌🐞✨

Emma is currently a second year student at BU in the forensic anthropology program. Her thesis is titled "Evaluating Ethics and Practices Surrounding Unprovenanced Human Skeletal Collections in Higher Education." Something interesting about her project is that: "It is interesting how we have been avoiding these boxes in the lab, and now looking and holding them in my hands everyday I am able to see that they have been generously handled prior. It is always nice to see how ethics is constantly evolving in our field, and for once we are giving these people consideration beyond leaving them to collect dust for someone else to figure out."

Stay tuned for our next student spotlight next week.

Welcome to Boston University’s Forensic Anthropology Department! Meet the 2026/27 social media team: Emma, Sarah, and Yu...
07/08/2026

Welcome to Boston University’s Forensic Anthropology Department! Meet the 2026/27 social media team: Emma, Sarah, and Yuri! 

We look forward to updating you on the classes and events of the program throughout the year! 🦴🪏🧭🫆🕵️

Over the past four weeks, the first- and second-year students from our program have been spending their Tuesdays in Holl...
05/04/2026

Over the past four weeks, the first- and second-year students from our program have been spending their Tuesdays in Holliston, putting into practice everything they’ve learned in Field Methods ⛏️ 🌟

From soil probing and mapping with the total station to excavations, evidence collection, and creating soil profiles.

PS. Last week was the second-years’ turn to say goodbye to Holliston… graduation is right around the corner! 🎓

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