Piers Mitchell - President
Piers Mitchell teaches in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. He has trained in paleopathology and medical history, and is also an orthopaedic surgeon. His research interests focus on health and disease in the crusades to the medieval Middle East (he is author of the 2004 book Medicine in the Crusades: Warfare, Wounds and the Medieval Surgeon by Cambridge University Press), on the teaching of anatomy in Britain in past centuries (Anatomical Dissection in the Enlightenment: Autopsy, Pathology and Display, Ashgate Publishing, 2012) and on the health consequences of parasites in ancient civilizations (Parasites in Past Civilizations and their Impact Upon Health is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press). He is on the editorial board of three international journals in the fields of biological anthropology and medieval history. Back
Linda Fibiger - Secretary
Gundula Muldner - Treasurer
Gundula is a Lecturer in Palaeodiet at the Department of Archaeology, University of Reading and has been a member of BABAO for nearly ten years, since her MSc in Human Osteology and Palaeopathology at the University of Bradford. She specialises in bone chemistry applications in archaeology. Back
Stefanie Vincent - Membership Secretary
Stef has a degree in Forensic Science from the University of Central Lancashire and completed her MSc in Palaeopathology at Durham University in 2004. She has worked as a commercial archaeologist, has also been involved over several years with a large multi-period research excavation in Northumberland and has supervised cemetery excavations in northern Sudan for the British Museum. In 2007 she took an IfA internship in Human Osteology and Stratigraphy with English Heritage. After this she took fieldwork positions as environmental and human remains supervisors. Most recently she has completed an assessment of human remains from the Stonehenge landscape. Her research interests include trauma, dental analysis, and environmental archaeology. Back
Tim Thompson - Publicity Secretary
Tim is currently a Reader in Biological & Forensic Anthropology in the School of Science & Engineering, Teesside University. Before heading to Teesside, Tim studied at the Universities of Bradford (Department of Archaeological Sciences) and Sheffield (Departments of Archaeology and Forensic Pathology) and was a Lecturer in Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee. Tim has published in on a range of subjects. but is mainly interested in the human body and how it changes in the forensic context. His main research interests include: heat-induced changes in bone, body modifications in human identification, and the interaction between the social and biological body and implications for human identity and identification. He is a practicing forensic anthropologist who has worked at home and abroad in a variety of forensic contexts. Back
Nicholas Marquez-Grant- Representative from the commercial sector
Dr Nicholas Marquez-Grant works as a Forensic Anthropologist and Archaeologist at Cellmark Forensic Services. He is also a Research Associate of the Institute of Human Sciences, School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford. Before embarking full time in the forensics field, he previously worked at a number of commercial units in the UK including Oxford Archaeology and as a freelance osteoarchaeologist in Spain and Portugal. He holds a BA Hons in Archaeology and Education (York, 1997), a Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) from the University of Bradford (1998), a MSc in Osteology, Palaeopathology and Funerary Archaeology (Bradford/Sheffield 1999) and a DPhil in Biological Anthropology (Oxford 2006). His work in the commercial sector motivated the co-edition of ‘The Routledge Handbook of Archaeological Human Remains and Legislation’ (2011). Back
Simon Mays - Representative from a professional organisation
Simon was a founder member of BABAO, and has previously served on the committee as Representative of a Professional Organisation. Simon has worked on important BABAO documents such as the Code of Ethics and the Osteological Recording Standards. He was also active on behalf of BABAO in national debates concerning ethics and reburial. His role as Human Skeletal Biologist for English Heritage gives him an overview of human osteology in England, and as such he works on various committees dealing with legal, ethical, archaeological and osteological matters concerning human burials. Back
Jelena Bekvalac - Representative from a museum
Since graduating from her MSc course (Sheffield /Bradford), Jelena has specialised in the post medieval assemblages and developing a keen interest in dentistry. As part of the original Wellcome team in 2003 she was a research osteologist helping to create the Centre for Human Bioarchaeology (CHB) at the Museum of London. After seven years at the Centre and now a curator, she has gained valuable experience working in a museum environment. The CHB as part of the museum, interlinks both academics and the public and as such has broadened my perspective. As a member of BABAO since its inception I have had the pleasure of seeing BABAO grow as an association and participate in several conferences. I would be delighted to be given the opportunity to be a member of the committee as Representative from a Museum. Back
Evilena Anastasiou - Student Representative
Evilena Anastasiou is a second year PhD student at the Department of Biological Anthropology, University of Cambridge. She has a BA in History and Archaeology from the University of Cyprus and an MSc in Human Osteology and Funerary Archaeology from the University of Sheffield. She is mostly interested in aspects of past health and disease and thus, for her PhD research she is studying the introduction and spread of the intestinal diseases and dysentery in the ancient Eastern Mediterranean. Back
Jo Buckberry - Grants Secretary
Jo is a lecturer in Biological Anthropology at the University of Bradford, where she also runs the MSc Human Osteology and Palaeopathology. Her interest in osteology started during her first excavation, of a later Anglo-Saxon cemetery and medieval castle, while she was a sixth form student. She holds a BA (Hons) Archaeology (Durham, 1997), MSc Osteology, Palaeopathology and Funerary Archaeology (Sheffield/Bradford 1999), Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (Sheffield, 2002) and PhD (Sheffield, 2004). She taught Archaeology at Trinity College Carmarthen 2002-2003 and joined Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford in 2004. Her research interests include identity and health in later Anglo-Saxon England; presenting palaeopathology to the public; interpersonal violence in the medieval period; and development and testing of fundamental methods in physical anthropology. She co-edited Burial in Later Anglo-Saxon England, c. 650–1100 with Annia Cherryson (2010) and Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual Conference of the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology with Piers Mitchell (2012). Back
Tina Jakob - Non-executive Member
Tina is currently a teaching fellow at Durham University where she is teaching modules in Anatomy and Osteology, as well as Palaeopathology. In 2004, she obtained her PhD from Durham with a comparative study of health and disease patterns from early medieval English and German skeletal populations. Tina has worked on excavations and survey projects in Germany, Turkey and recently in Jordan and northern Sudan. Back