Phoebe Stubblefield | |
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Academic background | |
Education | University of California, Santa Barbara; University of Texas; University of Florida |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Forensic anthropology |
Phoebe Stubblefield is an American forensic anthropologist specializing in human skeletal variation,human identification,and paleopathology. She is currently the Interim Director of the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the University of Florida. She was formerly an associate professor at the University of North Dakota,where she also served as Chair of the Anthropology Department and Director of the Forensic Science Program. Her research integrates cultural anthropology and forensic science. She is currently leading efforts to locate and identify the remains of hundreds of victims of the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.
Stubblefield graduated with a B.A. from the University of California,Santa Barbara in 1990. [1] Following this,she earned her M.A. at the University of Texas in 1993 and her Ph.D. from the University of Florida in 2002. [1] She was the last graduate student of William R. Maples,the founder of the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the Florida Museum of Natural History. [1]
Stubblefield was a professor at the University of North Dakota from 2003 to 2018. [2] During this time,she served as the Director of the Forensic Science Program from 2003 to 2016 and as the Chair of the Anthropology Department from 2010 to 2011. [1] While at the University of North Dakota,Stubblefield oversaw the creation of a new lab space and the expansion of the forensic science program. [3] In 2007,Stubblefield became a fellow of the Academy of Forensic Sciences. [1] Stubblefield also served as the Section Chair of the Anthropology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences from 2014 to 2016 and as the Section Secretary of the Physical Anthropology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences from 2013 to 2014. [1] Since 2018,she has been a Research Assistant Scientist at the University of Florida C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory. [1] As of 2021,Stubblefield was the interim director of the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory. [4]
Stubblefield currently leads efforts to recover and analyze human remains associated with the Tulsa race massacre of 1921,which destroyed a flourishing Black community and left up to 300 people dead. [4] Stubblefield has been involved in efforts to locate the bodies of the Tulsa race massacre victims since 1990 when she was invited by historian Scott Ellsworth to join the team. [5] She was a member of the original 1921 Tulsa Race Riot Commission created by the Oklahoma state legislature in 1997 and later disbanded in 2001. [6] [7] A second commission was formed ahead of the massacre's centenary in 2021. [6] The search for remains was largely unfruitful until 2019,when a team of historians and forensic archaeologists identified an area of Oaklawn Cemetery in north Tulsa as a possible grave site for some of the bodies. [8] [9] [10] The team discovered human remains in this area through ground-penetrating radar in fall 2020. [5] [11] [12] [13] Stubblefield plans to study the bodies following their exhumation in June 2021. [8] She will assess the bodies for gunshot wounds or bullets within the skeleton to determine whether the bodies belong to victims of the massacre. Though direct identification of the victims may not be possible, [14] she still anticipates her work will lead to the creation of memorials for the victims and reveal what their last moments may have been like. [8] Since there are very few Black forensic anthropologists like herself,Stubblefield explains that this project is a "rare chance [to] let a Black person use Black bodies to tell their story". [8] Stubblefield also holds personal connections to the massacre,as her great aunt survived the massacre but lost her house in the 1921 attack. [8] [15] [7] Her parents also grew up in Tulsa and Stubblefield frequently visited the city as a child. [4]
Stubblefield has received the Williams R. Maples Scholarship from the University of Florida in 1999,a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship in 2001,the Goggin Fellowship from the Department of Anthropology University of Florida in 2002,and the Ellis R. Kerley Foundation Award from the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in 2003. [1]
The Tulsa race massacre,also known as the Tulsa race riot or the Black Wall Street massacre,was a two-day-long white supremacist terrorist massacre that took place between May 31 –June 1,1921,when mobs of white residents,some of whom had been appointed as deputies and armed by city government officials,attacked black residents and destroyed homes and businesses of the Greenwood District in Tulsa,Oklahoma. The event is considered one of the worst incidents of racial violence in American history. The attackers burned and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of the neighborhood—at the time one of the wealthiest black communities in the United States,colloquially known as "Black Wall Street."
Forensic anthropology is the application of the anatomical science of anthropology and its various subfields,including forensic archaeology and forensic taphonomy,in a legal setting. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed,burned,mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable,as might happen in a plane crash. Forensic anthropologists are also instrumental in the investigation and documentation of genocide and mass graves. Along with forensic pathologists,forensic dentists,and homicide investigators,forensic anthropologists commonly testify in court as expert witnesses. Using physical markers present on a skeleton,a forensic anthropologist can potentially determine a person's age,sex,stature,and race. In addition to identifying physical characteristics of the individual,forensic anthropologists can use skeletal abnormalities to potentially determine cause of death,past trauma such as broken bones or medical procedures,as well as diseases such as bone cancer.
Osteology is the scientific study of bones,practised by osteologists. A subdiscipline of anatomy,anthropology,and paleontology,osteology is the detailed study of the structure of bones,skeletal elements,teeth,microbone morphology,function,disease,pathology,the process of ossification,and the resistance and hardness of bones (biophysics).
A body farm is a research facility where decomposition of humans and other animals can be studied in a variety of settings. The initial facility was conceived by anthropologist William M. Bass in 1981 at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville,Tennessee,where Bass was interested in studying the decomposition of a human corpse from the time of death to the time of decay. The aim was to gain a better understanding of the decomposition process,permitting the development of techniques for extracting information such as the timing and circumstances of death from human remains. Body farm research is of particular interest in forensic anthropology and related disciplines,and has applications in the fields of law enforcement and forensic science. By placing the bodies outside to face the elements,researchers are able to get a better understanding of the decomposition process.
Kathleen Joan Reichs is an American crime writer,forensic anthropologist and academic. She is an adjunct professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She is well-known for inspiring the television series Bones.
William Ross Maples,Ph.D. (1937–1997) was an American forensic anthropologist working at the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the Florida Museum of Natural History. His specialty was the study of bones. He worked on several high-profile criminal investigations,including those concerning historical figures such as Francisco Pizarro,the Romanov family,Joseph Merrick,President Zachary Taylor and Medgar Evers. His insights often proved beneficial in closing cases that otherwise may have remained unsolved.
Ellis R. Kerley was an American anthropologist,and pioneer in the field of Forensic anthropology,which is a field of expertise particularly useful to criminal investigators and for the identification of human remains for humanitarian purposes. Best known for his work in age dating of specimens,Kerley also made humanitarian contributions by identifying the remains of repatriated American soldiers from the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Mildred Trotter was an American pioneer as a forensic historian and forensic anthropologist.
Forensic facial reconstruction is the process of recreating the face of an individual from their skeletal remains through an amalgamation of artistry,anthropology,osteology,and anatomy. It is easily the most subjective—as well as one of the most controversial—techniques in the field of forensic anthropology. Despite this controversy,facial reconstruction has proved successful frequently enough that research and methodological developments continue to be advanced.
Karen Ramey Burns was an American forensic anthropologist known for work in international human rights. Her specialty was the recovery and identification of human remains in criminal,historical,archaeological,and disaster-related circumstances. She worked on a number of high-profile cases,including the Raboteau Massacre and trial in Haiti,the Río Negro massacre in Guatemala,victims of genocide in Iraqi Kurdistan,the Amelia Earhart search in Kiribati,Fiji,and the Northern Mariana Islands,and the identification of the Kazimierz Pułaski remains in Savannah,Georgia,United States. She was also active in international forensic training and taught human osteology and forensic anthropology at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She was a 2007-08 Fulbright Scholar at the University of the Andes in Bogotá,Colombia,where she also worked with EQUITAS,a non-governmental organization dedicated to helping families of disappeared persons due to the ongoing Colombian conflict.
Susan Margaret Black,Baroness Black of Strome is a Scottish forensic anthropologist,anatomist and academic. She was the Pro Vice-Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University and is past President of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. From 2003 to 2018 she was Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee. She is President of St John's College,Oxford.
FORDISC is a software program created by Stephen Ousley and Richard Jantz. It is designed to help forensic anthropologists investigate the identity of a deceased person by providing estimates of the person's size,ethnicity,and biological sex based on the osteological material recovered.
Arpad Alexander Vass is a research scientist and forensic anthropologist. He is also a teaching associate with the Law Enforcement Innovation Center,which is part of the University of Tennessee's Institute for Public Service.
Cancer and Genetics Research Complex at the University of Florida is an interdisciplinary research center. The goal of this facility is to harness the faculty &researchers from varying departments at the University of Florida to make exciting new discoveries,and to transfer technology to the marketplace. The Complex also houses the UF Genetics Institute (UFGI),the UF Health Cancer Center,the UF Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research,and the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory,an internationally known laboratory for research and consulting in forensic anthropology.
EwaElvira Klonowski is a forensic anthropologist. She took political refuge in Iceland in 1981,following the declaration of martial law in the People's Republic of Poland. She has been living in Reykjavik,Iceland since 1982. In 1996,she began working on individual and mass graves exhumation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since then,she has been responsible for the excavation and identification of over 2,000 victims,and in 2005 she was nominated to the list of the 1,000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Michael W. Warren is an associate professor emeritus and forensic anthropologist,at the University of Florida. He formerly served as the William H. Garmany Term Professor of Human Rights &Social Justice in the Department of Anthropology,and as Assistant Director of the William R. Maples Center for Forensic Medicine. Dr. Warren is a retired diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. He was a board member of the Scientific Working Group for Forensic Anthropology (SWGANTH). He also served as a member of the Forensic Advisory Board of the International Committee for the Red Cross. From 2009 until his retirement,Dr. Warren was the director of the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory,the University of Florida's forensic anthropology laboratory. The C.A. Pound Laboratory performs analyses of skeletal remains for many of the 24 medical examiner districts in the State of Florida.
Douglas W. Owsley,Ph.D. is an American anthropologist who is the current Head of Physical Anthropology at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). He is widely regarded as one of the most prominent and influential archaeologists and forensic anthropologists in the world in some popular media. In September 2001,he provided scientific analysis at the military mortuary located at Dover Air Force Base,following the 9/11 attack in Washington D.C. The following year,the US Department of Defense honored him with the Commander's Award for Civilian Service for helping in the identification of 60 federal and civilian victims who died when American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon.
Erin H. Kimmerle is an American forensic anthropologist,artist,and executive director of the Institute of Forensic Anthropology &Applied Science at the University of South Florida. She was awarded the 2020 AAAS Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility.
Mary Huffman Manhein is an American forensic anthropologist. Nicknamed The Bone Lady,she was the founding director of the Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services (FACES) laboratory at Louisiana State University (LSU) in 1990,and of the Louisiana Repository for Unidentified and Missing Persons Information Program in 2006. The repository is considered the "most comprehensive statewide database of its kind".
Viola Fletcher,also known as Mother Fletcher,is the oldest known survivor of the Tulsa race massacre. One hundred years after the massacre,she testified before Congress about the need for reparations. However Fletcher is accused of lying about the incident. In a 2013,Oklahoma State University documentary she stated that she did not live in Tulsa at the time and did not remember the 1921 massacre.