2022 Directors and Mentors

Program Director: Dr. Lesley A. Gregoricka (Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of South Alabama) is a bioarchaeologist specializing in biogeochemical analyses of skeletal tissues to investigate questions involving prehistoric human mobility, diet, and the evolution of social complexity in the Near East and Arabia.

Program Director: Dr. Jaime M. Ullinger (Professor of Anthropology, Quinnipiac University) is a bioarchaeologist asking questions about health, genetic relatedness, and mortuary practices in past populations, including the Bronze and Iron Ages in the Middle East, and the Bronze Age in Eastern Europe.

Project Mentor: Dr. Carlina de la Cova (Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of South Carolina) is an expert in bioarchaeology whose work is rooted in an interdisciplinary focus, looking at health disparities, as evidenced in the skeleton, among African-American and Euro-American indigents in the 19th century. Her work considers skeletal health in relation to race, culture, socioeconomic status, environment, migration, and marginalization.

Project Mentor: Dr. Jesse Goliath (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Mississippi State University) is an expert in bone biology and forensic anthropology. His research looks at how bone adapts its function in response to mechanical stimuli and environmental stresses to get at questions such as age and sex-related changes in bone quantity and quality. He has worked as a forensic anthropologist for city, state, and federal agencies, including the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) and SNA International.

Guest Scientist: Dr. Jessica Cerezo-Román (Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma) is an expert in archaeological and forensic cremations, and is known both for her theoretical and methodological contributions to the study of mortuary practices. Her work on personhood and embodiment in relation to cremation in particular is widely cited. She has worked as an assistant professor, but also as a forensic anthropologist postdoctoral fellow at the Pima County Medical Examiner-Forensic Science Center. 

Ethics Mentor: Dr. Molly Zuckerman (Associate Professor of Anthropology, Mississippi State University) is a bioarchaeologist whose research centers on the bio-social determinants of health inequalities among past populations, with a particular focus on social identity and gender, and on the evolution of infectious disease, with a focus on syphilis and the treponematoses.

Digital Storytelling Specialist: Dr. M. Delwar Hossain (Associate Professor of Communication, University of South Alabama) is a digital journalist whose teaching and research areas revolve around social media, international and political communications, race and media, and mass media ethics.  He will work with REU students on constructing their digital stories for public outreach.

Guest Statistician: Dr. Leslie Williams (Associate Professor of Anthropology, Beloit College) is a bioarchaeologist with expertise in demography, paleopathology, and data analysis and visualization. Her work contributes to our understanding of climate change and health, as well as human responses to mass disasters. Dr. Williams also teaches in the Health and Society program and in Data Analytics at Beloit College.   

Teaching Assistant: Ms. Anna Shunnarah is a recent University of South Alabama graduate who majored in biomedical sciences and minored in forensic science. During her time at the university, she worked at the Center of Academic Excellence as a chemistry tutor, participated in a rural medicine internship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Medicine, and completed research in public health. Anna has just completed her first year of medical school at USA’s College of Medicine, and plans to spend the next few years in Mobile exploring specialties and hopefully continue assisting Dr. G before starting residency. 

Teaching Assistant: Ms. Bailee Thomas is a soon-to-be University of South Alabama graduate currently majoring in anthropology with a minor in forensic science. While at USA, she has served on the executive boards of the Student Anthropological Society, Mortar Board Honors Society, and Chi Omega Fraternity, and assists Dr. Gregoricka in lab during her free time. After graduation, she hopes to attend medical school and pursue a career related to human osteology.