Email: aost at live.unc.edu
Phone:
Areas of Interest
Bioarchaeology, taphonomy, skeletal indicators of health and stress, forensic anthropology, stable isotope analysis, repatriation, biostatistics
Education
2015 B.S. in Anthropology with Honors, Central Michigan University
2018 M.S. in Anthropology, Concentration in Forensic and Biological Anthropology, Mercyhurst University
Professional Background
I am a biological anthropologist interested in skeletal health and transience of humans in the past. Prior to coming to the University of North Carolina, I received my B.S. in Anthropology with Honors from Central Michigan University. During my undergraduate career, I interned with two National Museums (those of Ireland and Costa Rica), working with artifacts and human remains from a variety of contexts.
In 2018, I graduated from Mercyhurst University with my M.S. in Anthropology (concentration in Forensic and Biological Anthropology). My master’s thesis examined the correlation between traits of the pelvis and age-at-death estimates. Following graduation, I was hired at Mercyhurst as an instructor for the 2018-2019 academic year, where I taught undergraduate courses in the Applied Forensic Sciences and Anthropology/Archaeology curricula. I also oversaw curation of the Donated Human and Zooarchaeological Collections at Mercyhurst and acted as the Body Donation Program Coordinator. To date, I have assisted with over 70 forensic cases involving the recovery and laboratory analysis of human remains from forensic scenes across the northeastern United States and Puerto Rico. Additionally, I have spent the last five field seasons excavating and analyzing remains from archaeological sites in the Basque Country (northern Spain).
Publications
Ost, AM. Age-at-Death Estimation from the Auricular Surface of the Ilium: A Test of a Sex-Specific Component Method. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2022;00:1-9.
Ost, AM; Messer, DL; Dirkmaat, DC. The Role of Forensic Anthropologists at the Fatal Fire Recovery: A Retrospective Study of Cases from 1983–2020. Early view, Forensic Anthropology.
Dunn, RR; Ost, AM; Lynch, PA; Warren, C. Biography: Dennis C. Dirkmaat, Ph.D., D-ABFA. Accepted to Forensic Anthropology, in press.
Ost, AM; Dunn, RR; Dirkmaat, DC. What Forensic Taphonomy Can Do for You: A Case Study in Rural Pennsylvania. In: Case Studies in Forensic Anthropology: Bonified Skeletons, Heather Garvin and Natalie Langley (ed). CRC Press (2019).
Altes, K; Ost, AM; Perez, D; Constantino, A; Carpenter, K; Ferguson, D; Bohne, C. Bertillon, Alphonse. In: The International Encyclopedia of Biological Anthropology, Wenda Trevathan (ed). John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (2018).
Recent Presentations
Messer, DL; Ost, AM; Dirkmaat, DC. 2019. A Retrospective Study of Forensic Fire Search and Recoveries at Mercyhurst University: 1983-2019. Presentation at the 72nd annual American Academy of Forensic Sciences Conference, Anaheim, CA.
Ost, AM. 2018. Age-at-Death Estimation from the Auricular Surface of the Ilium: A Comparison of Two Methods. Presentation at the 71st annual American Academy of Forensic Sciences Conference, Baltimore, MD.
Ost, AM; Dunn, RR. 2017. Recovery Protocols for Taphonomic Interpretations. Presentation at the 7th annual Forests, Lakes, and Grasslands (FLAG) Conference, Higgins Lake, MI.
Ost, AM. 2015. Effects of a Gendered Education on Native American Indian Children: A Study at the Michigan Indian Industrial Boarding School. Presentation at the 114th annual American Anthropological Association Conference, Denver, CO.
Ost, AM; Wankmiller, J. 2014. Population-Specific Sex Determination of Incomplete Skeletal Remains at Site G-439Jí. Poster presented at Student Research and Creative Endeavors Exhibition, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, MI.