Joel Cahn

Background

About Joel Cahn

Our bones reveal so much information about us.or at least they can. I'm interested in both the stories they reveal and the ways we analyze the evidence.so that when we present interpretations, they are more than just stories. I am an experienced educator with over 15 years of experience teaching numerous topics in forensic science and biological anthropology. In addition to being an Assistant Professor with the undergraduate Department of Forensic Science at Trent University, I am also the program director for Trent’s Master of Science in Forensic Science program, and a faculty member of the Trent Anthropology graduate program. I have. BSc. in Biochemistry from the University of Ottawa, and I completed my MSc and PhD in Anthropology at the University of Toronto. Throughout my academic career, I have also accumulated a wide range of forensic anthropology casework experience. I have assisted with searches for human remains, made in-field animal/human determinations, recovered skeletal remains from various environments, constructed biological profiles, and generated forensic reports. This casework experience provides me with a wealth of examples from which to draw upon when teaching, and informs my research. My research interests include data comparison and reporting methods in forensic anthropology, and bioarchaeology. My previous research focused on how the choice of data comparison methods can lead to different interpretations of violent behaviour in past populations. My current research focus is reporting practices in forensic anthropology: how they affect and are affected by perceptions of ancestry, sex, and gender in various communities.