Current Graduate Students

“The Rosettes”

Amarna Rosette amulets

Alissa Bandy

Alissa Bandy received her B.A. in anthropology and English literature with honors at the University of New Mexico.  She received her M.Sc. in forensic and biological anthropology with merit from Bournmouth University (UK).  She has attended field school in Campsville, Illinois under the direction of Dr. Buikstra and a field school directed by Prof. Wills at Cañada de Cochiti and El Malpais.  She was chosen for a study abroad program at the University of East London.  Her Ph.D. research at that institution is a synergistic approach combining the archaeological data and the osteological laboratory reports of the South Tombs Cemetery at Amarna to create an imaginative interpretation of life at Akhetaten.

Liz Brandt

Liz grew up outside of Philadelphia, Pa. and served in the U.S. Army for 21 years in the Military Intelligence field. She graduated summa cum laude (2006) from Appalachian State University in Boone, NC (BA in physical anthropology) and from Texas State University-San Marcos in 2009 (MA in forensic anthropology). She also attended the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) Forensic Science Academy (2009). Liz has many interests including skeletal biology and aging methods, taphonomic processes, comparative faunal morphology, and biorhythms. Her dissertation research investigates the use of dental tissues for estimating age and establishing a record of life-history events, such as pregnancies, fractures and disease. Liz currently serves as a graduate assistant, teaching undergraduate classes in forensic anthropology and criminalistics.

Heidi Davis

Heidi Davis is from Merritt Island, Florida. She is currently in the doctoral program at the University of Arkansas, after attending the University of Central Florida and the University of West Florida. Her interests include bioarchaeology, paleopathology, trauma, and activity patterns. Her dissertation research focuses on labor related activity patterns in the South Tombs Cemetery skeletal population at Tell el-Amarna, Egypt. She has had the opportunity to be a teaching assistant for introduction to biological anthropology, forensic anthropology, and human osteology courses and has worked with skeletons in the U.S., Italy, and Egypt.

Cheyenne Lewis

Cheyenne Lewis received a B.S. in Biological Anthropology and Archaeology from The George Washington University and a M.S. in Anthropology with a concentration in Forensic and Biological Anthropology from Mercyhurst University. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology at the University of Arkansas with a focus in bioarchaeology. She has experience working with human remains that fall under NAGPRA statutes in Arkansas and Florida, as well as human remains in a bioarchaeological context in Egypt and Greece. She also has worked on human remains in forensic contexts located in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Idaho, and Austria. Cheyenne taught Anth 3903 Special Topics: Forensic Anthropology for the University of Arkansas and been a teaching assistant for human osteology and dental science.

Erika Morey

Erika Morey received a B.A. in Anthropology and B.S. in Zoology from Washington State University and a M.A. in Near Eastern Art and Archaeology (Egyptian Archaeology) from the University of Chicago.  She is currently working on her Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas.  Erika participated in archaeological field school in Pompeii, Italy with the Anglo-American Project in Pompeii led by the University of Bradford (UK) and has done cultural anthropology field work in Cork City, Ireland and Washington State.  She currently teaches Egyptology.

Kelly Schaeffer

Kelly Schaeffer is from Lufkin, Texas. She received her B.S. in Anthropology with honors from Baylor University. During her undergraduate years, she had the opportunity to do archaeological fieldwork in Italy and examine skeletal remains nearly 3,000 years old. She also worked in the Forensic Anthropology Lab for the Reuniting Families Project, which aims to give a name to those who have died crossing the Texas-Mexico border and return the remains to their families. She is currently a first year Master’s Student in the Biological Anthropology program at the University of Arkansas. Her research interests include Bioarchaeology, Forensic Anthropology, and Paleopathology. Kelly currently serves as a Teaching Assistant, teaching labs for Introduction to Biological Anthropology.

Ashley E. Shidner

Ashley Shidner received her B.A. in Anthropology with a minor in Entomology from the University of Florida in 2006 and received her M.A. in Anthropology from the University of West Florida in 2010.  She is currently working on her Ph.D. and her dissertation research includes a biocultural analysis of growth and development on the South Tomb skeletal population at Tell el-Amarna, Egypt.  Her research interests include bioarchaeology, forensic anthropology, growth and development, archaeology of children and childhood, paleopathology, and health and nutrition.