President:
Dr. Kathleen Paul
Dr. Paul is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology and the Director of Predental Studies at the University of Arkansas. Her research uses quantitative genetic methods to explore the foundations of dental variation in (non)human primates, while her administrative responsibilities center around biomedical applications of dental science and preparing students for clinical dentistry training.
Secretary: Dr. Brenna Hassett
Dr. Hassett has a PhD in Dental Anthropology and is a Lecturer at the University of Lancashire. Her work largely looks at growth and development in dental enamel, but she also has research interests in imaging methods, 3d analytical approaches to morphology, archaeology, and the history of archaeology and anthropology. She is ¼ of Team TrowelBlazers, a community-led initiative to recognise women in the digging sciences. She also writes books for popular audiences: “Built on Bones: 15,000 Years of Urban Life and Death”, “Growing Up Human: the Evolution of Childhood”. Her most recent is a book for the 10-12 age group with historian Greg Jenner: “Totally Chaotic History: The Stone Age Runs Wild!” .
Treasurer:
Dr. Christina Nicholas
Dr. Nicholas is an Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago (College of Dentistry). Trained as a paleoanthropologist, she tackles questions related to human evolution as well as contemporary oral health. She's particularly interested in identifying factors, both genetic and environmental, which influence the timing of facial growth and dental development.
Executive Board Member: Dr. Kristin Krueger
Dr. Krueger is a Professor of Anthropology and PI of the ChEW Lab at Loyola University Chicago. Her research explores the dietary and behavioral strategies of our hominin ancestors using dental microwear texture analysis. She also uses experimental means (Artificial Resynthesis Technology or ART) to understand how dental [micro]wear forms.
Communications Officer:
Dr. Laresa (Reecie) Dern
Dr. Dern is an Assistant Professor of Biology and Principal Faculty in the Department of PA Medicine at Drury University. Her research applies dental morphology to questions about human variation across time and space, including migration in medieval and Early Modern Europe. She recently started an undergraduate dental histology lab to facilitate projects on human and non-human dental microstructure variation.
Student Member: Sidney Thompson
Sidney Thompson is a doctoral candidate in Anthropology at the University of Arkansas. Her research focuses on the influences of early life stresses on dental and neuroendocrine development. Her dissertation work explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on maternal gestational stress and how that affected their children's dental development through traditional histology and steroid biochemical analyses.