MSU Forensic Anthropology

10/02/2026

When Dr. Rhian Dunn was a doctoral student at MSU, she took on a question that sits under much of forensic anthropology: do the skeletal collections scientists learn from give a skewed picture of human variation?

To find out, she measured 1,161 individuals across eight collections in the U.S., working under the supervision of Dr. Joe Hefner. Dunn is now an assistant professor at Western Carolina University, and their study was published this month in the journal Humans.

Here's what they found: https://anthropology.msu.edu/2026/09/28/msu-research-finds-collection-bias-does-not-mask-human-skeletal-variation/

10/02/2026

Lansing police brought in an MSU Anthropology team to assist after human remains believed to be several years old were found in Lansing on Saturday, according to WLNS. The Medical Examiner’s Office is…

10/02/2026

Natalie Clark, an MSU anthropology doctoral student who works in the university's Forensic Anthropology Laboratory, spent her summer at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency in Omaha, Nebraska.

Some days she screened burial blankets, some wrapped around remains for as long as 80 years, for bone fragments. Other days she trained with DPAA anthropologists or helped analysts with active cases. She also took part in honorable carry ceremonies welcoming service members home.

"I am not exaggerating when I say every single person I interacted with at the DPAA was fantastic," Clark says.

Read more about her summer: https://anthropology.msu.edu/2026/10/01/msu-doctoral-student-spends-summer-supporting-identification-work-at-the-dpaa/

09/29/2026

04/27/2026

Congratulations to MSUFAL’s very own Holly Long on successfully defending her dissertation proposal, making her ABD (all but dissertation). For the next couple of years, Holly will be working in Peru in the Huarmey Valley. Congratulations Holly!