Welcome back to the MSUFAL blog where we would like to highlight another one of our alumni from our lab: Dr. Jane (Wankmiller) Harris!
Dr. Harris is a forensic anthropologist employed at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan, where she works as Director of the Forensic Research Outdoor Station (FROST) – the first cold weather outdoor facility in the United States – and the NMU Body Donation Program, which supports work at FROST and the Forensic Anthropology Research Laboratory. In her spare time, Dr. Harris also teaches undergraduate courses in forensic anthropology, advises undergraduate students, conducts research, and handles active casework, mainly for agencies in the Upper Peninsula.
When asked when she first became interested in forensic anthropology, Dr. Harris notes that it likely stems from her lifelong love of puzzles, drawing the human figure, and her fascination with the human skeleton – in fact, Dr. Harris began studying skeletal and muscular anatomy at a fairly young age in order to ensure her drawings were as accurate as possible! This led her to pursue a career as a medical illustrator, but one anthropology course in her junior year changed her life and altered her career choice to one of anthropology and archaeology. This became even further refined when Dr. Harris took a course in forensic anthropology and was immediately hooked. It quickly became clear that it was the perfect field for her – its multifaceted nature allowed Dr. Harris to be an anthropologist, an artist, a skeletal biologist, an archaeologist, and a solver of puzzles. In fact, Dr. Harris says that her interest in forensic anthropology is renewed every time she works on a case or reads an article that teaches her something new, reminding her that this discipline truly never ceases to be fascinating.
Currently, Dr. Harris is collaborating on a multitude of projects. First, she is partnering with the Department of Entomology here at MSU in order to conduct necrobiome studies looking at changes to communities of bacteria in the gut, muscle tissue, and other areas of donors at FROST. Dr. Harris is also working on developing a new region-specific total body score system, first introduced by Megyesi (another MSU alumna!) and colleagues in 2005. Both of these projects are essential to better understanding the postmortem interval and specific taphonomic processes that affect remains in colder temperatures – which can definitely be found in the Upper Peninsula! Outside of FROST research, Dr. Harris works as a forensic artist and is involved with the Organization of Scientific Area Committees as a member of the Facial Identification Subcommittee. This subcommittee is currently working on several research projects related to forensic art and facial identification. We cannot wait to see the results of these projects down the line!
When asked how working with the MSUFAL impacted her career, Dr. Harris responded that she certainly would not be where she is now without the education she received at MSU, including coursework and opportunities to gain practical experience assisting Drs. Fenton and Sauer with casework throughout her graduate career. Here, she learned how to employ forensic anthropological methods and learned how to interact with other professionals, such as medical examiners, attorneys, and local, state, and federal law enforcement. In particular, learning forensic archeology has served her well on a number of cases in her professional career. Further, Dr. Harris credits MSU for also giving her a solid background in bioarchaeology, helping her to become a well-rounded physical anthropologist. Now Dr. Harris models her mentoring style after her own mentors at MSU by ethically conducting casework and actively engaging students in research and casework to help them in their future careers.
Apart from her time as a member of MSUFAL, Dr. Harris also misses her graduate school cohort. They got through some great and tough times together, including coursework, travel, fieldwork, bibliographies, comprehensive exams, dissertation writing, having kids, getting married and/or divorced. Her cohort was a great support system that understood the highs and lows of graduate school, in ways that friends and family often did not. Additionally, through working with her cohort and other graduate students, Dr. Harris learned to ask for help, to always have someone review a paper, and to make time for other students. Dr. Harris states that she would not be the colleague and professional she is today without those people and those experiences.
When asked if she had any advice for students interested in pursuing forensic anthropology, Dr. Harris responded:
“Two things. First, what I understand from speaking with faculty who run graduate programs is that they are not just looking for students who graduate from undergrad with a degree in forensic anthropology. They are looking for well-rounded anthropologists and well-rounded scientists. Second, I think it’s important to differentiate yourself from the pack. I had my art and I worked for a few years as a death investigator for a medical examiner’s office and as an analyst for the Michigan State Police, so I have experience beyond my forensic anthropology studies and casework. I encourage my students to identify their passions and find ways of incorporating them into forensic anthropology.”
While Dr. Harris doesn’t miss too much about the Lansing area, she does miss her Lansing colleagues and the variety of restaurants that we have to offer. Marquette has some great local restaurants, but doesn’t have the same access to international cuisine or breakfast and burgers like those served at Golden Harvest and The Peanut Barrel.
All in all, Dr. Harris’s passion for forensic anthropology is best explained in her own words:
“I’d just like to share that this is an extremely rewarding career. I love that even though I am confident in my knowledge and my ability to apply the methods and theory I have learned and practiced for years, I still learn something new almost every day. How many people can say that about their professions?”
Thank you all for reading our blog and thank you, Dr. Harris, for your kind words of wisdom!
Authored by: Rhian Dunn