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Can Forensic Anthropologists Work With FBI Agents?
by Clayton Browne
Forensic anthropologists recover and analyze human remains for legal purposes.
John Moore/Getty Images News/Getty Images
1 Where Can a Forensic Odontologist Work?
2 Degree Needed to Get Into Forensics in the FBI
3 What Would the Typical Environment Be That a Forensic Scientist Works At?
4 Non-Academic Careers in Anthropology
Forensic anthropology is the study of human or other remains for legal purposes. Forensic anthropologists are physical anthropologists who have been trained in the analysis of physical remains, especially skeletal remains. Using techniques from physical anthropology involving carefully examining and performing tests on the remains, they can determine the gender, age, ethnic background, height, and even approximately how long since death. Many law enforcement agencies employ forensic anthropologists, including the FBI.
Most forensic anthropologists have an undergraduate degree in anthropology or a related field and one or more graduate degrees. Many forensic anthropologists have earned a doctorate in physical anthropology. Physical anthropology graduate programs typically include class work as well as a good bit of time working in the and field. A few schools, such as Boston University, have recently started offering forensic anthropology graduate programs.
Sometimes forensic anthropologists are involved in the actual collection of skeletal remains that may be used as evidence, but in most cases the evidence is collected by other forensic specialists and is delivered to the forensic anthropologist for analysis. Forensic anthropologists often work together with forensic pathologists, odontologists and law enforcement agents to help identify remains, document trauma to the skeleton or estimate how long ago death occurred. According to PBS, the FBI began consulting with physical anthropologists to help solve gangland murders as early as the 1930s.
Employed By Law Enforcement Agencies
Some forensic anthropologists work as employees of law enforcement agencies, including a few major metropolitan police departments and the FBI. The military also employs a number of forensic anthropologists to assist in the identification of the remains of service members. The FBI established its in-house forensic anthropology program in 2010. Before that, they had a long-term relationship with the physical anthropologists at the Smithsonian Institution. Law enforcement forensic anthropologists are often called upon to testify in court regarding the methods they used to come to their conclusions regarding the evidence.
Forensic Anthropology Consultants
According to the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, the majority of forensic anthropologists work on a part-time consulting basis and are contacted by law enforcement including the FBI as the need arises. Many forensic anthropologist consultants also have at least a part-time position in academia or a research institution. Consulting forensic anthropologists are also occasionally called on to testify in court.
University of North Carolina at Wilmington: Forensic Anthropology FAQs
American Board of Forensic Anthropology
American Board of Forensic Anthropology: What Is Forensic Anthropology?
Federal Bureau of Investigation: Forensic Update
PBS: History Detectives -- Forensic Anthropologists
Clayton Browne has been writing professionally since 1994. He has written and edited everything from science fiction to semiconductor patents to dissertations in linguistics, having worked for Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Steck-Vaughn and The Psychological Corp. Browne has a Master of Science in linguistic anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Browne, Clayton. "Can Forensic Anthropologists Work With FBI Agents?" Work - Chron.com, http://work.chron.com/can-forensic-anthropologists-work-fbi-agents-27454.html. Accessed 21 January 2020.
Browne, Clayton. (n.d.). Can Forensic Anthropologists Work With FBI Agents? Work - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://work.chron.com/can-forensic-anthropologists-work-fbi-agents-27454.html
Browne, Clayton. "Can Forensic Anthropologists Work With FBI Agents?" accessed January 21, 2020. http://work.chron.com/can-forensic-anthropologists-work-fbi-agents-27454.html
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