Principal Investigators
Nicholas P Herrmann
nph16@txstate.edu
Nicholas Herrmann is a Professor of Anthropology at Texas State University. His research interests span forensic and bioarchaeological applications in anthropology. Major research foci include commingled human bone contexts, non-adult and adult age estimation, demographic interpretations of past populations, and stable isotope applications. Presently, his current projects focus on non-adult age estimation and growth, isotopic assessment of archaeological samples and forensic cases, and eastern Mediterranean bioarchaeology in Greece and Cyprus.
Joseph T Hefner
hefnerj1@msu.edu
Joseph Hefner is an assistant professor specializing in forensic anthropology and quantitative methods. His interests in forensic anthropology include the estimation of ancestry using macromorphoscopic (cranial nonmetric) traits and cranial and postcranial metrics. The focus of Dr. Hefner’s research is the standardization and quantification of macromorphoscopic traits with robust and appropriate classification statistics, including data mining techniques and machine learning methods. Dr. Hefner’s professional activities center on forensic anthropological method and theory and statistical approaches to biological anthropology, including biodistance analysis, categorical data analysis, geometric morphometric methods, data excavation, and parametric/nonparametric classification statistics.
Post-Doctoral Researcher
Jennifer E Spence
jes322@txstate.edu
Jennifer Spence is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University. Her research focuses on the importance of teeth in the context of human growth and development and life history. In particular, she studies how ecological factors shape dental development and how the dentition influences growth and development via biological and cultural pathways.
Senior Personnel
James P (JP) Fancher
jpf17@txstate.edu
JP Fancher is a board certified forensic odontologist and lecturer in Anthropology at Texas State University. He brings the skills of a clinical dentist and anthropologist to this team. His research and casework focus on solving cases of missing and unidentified human remains, especially humanitarian efforts. He is a frequent presenter for professional and scientific groups on the topic of dental age assessment.
Graduate Researchers
Petra Banks
pmb66@txstate.edu
Petra Banks is a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology at Texas State University with a focus on forensic anthropology. Her research interests include trauma analysis, mass disasters, skeletal blast trauma, and historic bioarchaeology. Her dissertation research will examine the effects of a blast wave on the human skeleton.
Kelly Kamnikar
kamnikar@msu.edu
Kelly Kamnikar is a doctoral student working with Dr. Hefner focusing on forensic anthropology. She is interested in the application of forensic anthropology to human rights investigations. Current research projects include macromorphoscopic trait and craniometric analysis in groups considered Hispanic and dental age estimation in subadults.
Amber Plemons
plemonsa@msu.edu
Amber Plemons is a graduate research assistant in the Department of Anthropology at Michigan State University. Her research interests focus on human variation, ancestry estimation, dental anthropology, fragmentary remains, and data management. Her dissertation research examines the role of genetics and climate on craniofacial form and how this influences human variation on a large scale.