Madeleine Hinkes: No Bone Unturned: The Role of Forensic Anthropology in Death Investigation.
On April 16, 2004, I attended a lecture presented by Madeleine Hinkes, a professor of anthropology, on the role of forensic anthropology in death investigation. Professor Hinkes is also the only certified forensic anthropologist in all of southern California. The presentation was great. Madeleine herself was a very interesting person. I went into the lecture having very little knowledge of professor Hinkes and the field of forensic anthropology itself, but I left an enlightened student with pages of notes. .
Professor Hinkes began her lecture speaking a little about herself and the field in general. She said she gets to do a lot of traveling from the job, I would say that's a benefit for the job. What also interested me was when she talked about how not very many people want the job and it's not high on demand. She said that good job security for her in a way. I thought that was funny. Then she spoke on what the requirements are to get certified in the field. The requirements for certification, after you obtain your masters, and PhD, are getting qualified to take an exam handed by the American Board of Forensic Anthropologists. Yes, this does mean after all the schooling, the masters, and the PhD; you must apply to be qualified for the exam itself. Once you"re accepted, you are issued a 4 hour written exam, and a 4 hour practical exam. In order to be certified, one must pass these exams. There are only 60 certified forensic anthropologists in the United States today.
Madeleine seemed very personable. She went on to talk a little more about her career. She said a couple years ago, channel 7 news did a four minute special on her. She said that she probably works about 20-30 cases a year. The cases are pretty much whenever she gets a call for someone who needs her help. She said that she work for the defense in the Danielle Van Damme case.
"Anthro" comes from the Greek word Anthropos which means "human". ... This includes, but not limited to, Forensic Anthropology and Primatology. ... Forensic anthropology focuses on the identification of human skeletons. ... For this reason, Forensic anthropology works closely with law enforcement officials to help in investigations to give them additional information. ...