Uncovering the Path of Forensic Excellence: My Journey and Vision for Forensic Anthropology

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Dr Sam Rowbotham, VIFM for the opportunity to be interviewed for the Australasian Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology Newsletter (AFAAN), 2021.

In this interview, I delve into my career milestones, contributions to forensic science, and the evolving landscape of forensic anthropology.

Interview with Dr Angela Clark, University of Otago

What first sparked your interest in forensic archaeology/anthropology?

As a teenager, I watched the BBC TV drama Silent Witness. I found the strong female role of the Forensic Pathologist, Dr Sam Ryan (played by Amanda Burton), very inspiring in both character and work. I then discovered my parents' crime fiction novels, mainly reading Patricia Cornwall, but my introduction and fascination with the field of forensic anthropology started when I read Déjà Dead by Kathy Reichs around 1999.

In the final years of high school, I attended a couple of residential courses at different universities in the UK that offered forensic science, and this practical exposure really solidified my passion for the field. In sixth form, I was deeply focused on both art and science. My art coursework heavily involved self-taught human anatomical science. I started researching and studying the anatomical drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, and had the opportunity to visit the first Body Worlds exhibition in London. I was starting the journey to unfold the fascinating world of information and stories that can be told from our bones and teeth that would eventually lead to the field of forensic anthropology as my life's vocation.

What qualifications (academic and practical) did you require?

BSc (honours) Forensic Science, in 2006, at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, UK. The University, at the time, was the only institution in England to employ a full-time forensic anthropologist and teach this subject in the first year. My honours thesis was the only laboratory-based forensic anthropology research conducted that year, and landed me a first-class degree in the top 10% in my class of over 250 students. That early exposure to the human skeleton and research propelled my desire to go further.

MSc (honours) Human Osteology and Palaeopathology, in 2007, at the University of Bradford, UK. I was initially accepted to enrol in the MSc Forensic Anthropology at the University of Bradford, but just before the degree started, the Course leader left, and I was moved to the sister course Human Osteology and Palaeopathology (HOP). I was awarded a Master of Science Studentship by the National Environment Research Council (NERC), UK to complete my degree. Additionally, NERC provided research funding so I travelled to various academic institutions and museums to conduct my thesis research entitled “Secular change in metric sex assessment methods and sexual dimorphism for 2000 years of British history: from Roman to post-medieval periods”. Doing this opened many doors and started connections that have lasted a lifetime.

The desire to travel and research continued into 2008 when I travelled solo around the world and assisted with human burials from archaeological excavations in Southeast Asia and South America. A month-long trip of fieldwork and skeletal analysis in Thailand resulted in two PhD opportunities, one in Townsville, Australia and the other in Dunedin, Aotearoa New Zealand. I was awarded a full international scholarship at the University of Otago, and had the opportunity to explore a research topic that I had been examining since 2006 during my honours thesis – sexual dimorphism. I graduated with my PhD in Bioarchaeology 2013, and realised that, although archaeological questions are important, I had steered away from my original passion and focus of forensic anthropology. It was time to go back to my roots and dive into the forensic-world using the skills and experience I had gained over the past several years.

Which organisations did you undertake forensic anthropology work for and how did you come to take on these roles?

My first forensic anthropological work in New Zealand was in 2015, employed by The Forensic Group, who are an independent forensic consultancy service. I worked on a case with a colleague from the University of Otago and our findings of the skeletal trauma were not favourable for the defence council, and not mentioned in the pathology report disclosed by the prosecution, so the evidence of perimortem trauma was not heard by the court. This case opened my eyes to the lack of knowledge and understanding of forensic anthropology in New Zealand, and led me to start my own consultancy in 2016 (www.forensicanthropology.co.nz).

In 2018, I was part of a small core group of four bioarchaeologists and forensic anthropologists connected to the University of Otago, who were contracted to the New Zealand Defence Force on Operation Te Auraki. My part-time Lecturer role in the Faculty of Dentistry meant that I had already close collaborations and working partnerships with many of the Forensic Odontologists working on Te Auraki, in addition to the bioarchaeologists from the Otago School of Biomedical Sciences where I worked previously.

Since I started consultancy casework, I have worked with New Zealand Police on the identification of skeletal remains found in homes, gardens, beaches, and in the bush. Through my role as Course Coordinator of the popular Forensic Biology Summer School at the University of Otago and Dunedin Chairperson and NZ Council Member of the Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society, I have made many professional collaborations with NZ Police, Scene of Crime Officers, Coroners, ESR Forensic Scientists and NZ Forensic Pathologists who pass on my contact details when skeletal remains are discovered. Unfortunately, the NZ Police Expert Register has not been updated since around 2014, and there is little information on the protocols that govern the discovery of human remains, except in historic or archaeological settings. This is something that I am very passionate about, and am striving to achieve through my own website. I’ve continued a strong working partnership with The Forensic Group, and provide around 3-4 forensic anthropological reports for the court per year.

What different areas of the discipline has your work involved?

I have worked for New Zealand Police on forensic case work, been involved with the repatriation of historic Māori human skeletal remains for Government infrastructure projects, and historic human remains for New Zealand Defence Force.

The majority of my forensic casework is actioned by the defence council, sometimes this involves report writing from photographs taken at the scene and during autopsy. This certainly presents challenges and limitations to my report. But in my experience, in cases where human skeletal remains have not been subject to a forensic anthropological examination before the remains have been released to the family, the value – even from photographs – that a forensic anthropologist has becomes apparent to the forensic pathologists and to the court during trial. From these situations, I have embraced the Māori concept of whanaungatanga, which is about forming, maintaining and strengthening relationships, a key concept to forensic anthropological work in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Aotearoa New Zealand is a small country with a relatively low crime rate, and as such, the relative caseload for a forensic anthropologist is small compared to other countries in the world. However, recent natural disasters have resulted in much archaeological work around the country. For example, following the Kāikōura earthquake in 2016 that destroyed the major state highway on the northeast coast of the South Island, New Zealand, an ūrupa, a historic Māori cemetery, was exposed. Working with the representatives of Te Runanga o Kaikōura and a fellow forensic anthropologist from Operation Te Auraki, we excavated and reburied the kōiwi tangata, human skeletal remains, in another area of the ūrupa, which was safe from any future disturbances. This project was personally significant to me as my daughter has ancestral linkages binding her to the Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mamoe and Waitaha iwi of that land and the people who we were helping.

I have also undertaken repatriation work as part of Operation Te Auraki (The Return), a New Zealand Defence Force project repatriating servicemen and their dependents buried overseas between 1955 and 1971, following a change in Government policy. In the largest tranche in Malaysia, 27 individuals who served in Vietnam and Malaysia and died during the time of the Malayan Emergency and Vietnam War were repatriated to Aotearoa New Zealand. For this work, no destructive analyses of the remains were undertaken and Interpol DVI protocols were adhered to. We worked closely with the forensic odontologists to provide positive identifications for the Chief Coroner back in Aotearoa New Zealand. This Operation was immensely important for the DVI response in New Zealand. In the 2011 Christchurch Earthquake, victims were mostly identified through forensic odontology. Several weeks after the initial mass fatality event, forensic anthropologists were brought over from Israel, having worked with the late Professor Jules Kieser during the 2009 Boxing Day Tsunami. I hope that the relationships we have now built and secured with the, albeit small but well-formed, team of forensic anthropologists and odontologists during Operation Te Auraki will be a positive step forward for future DVI operations.

Top five career highlights...

1. Operation Te Auraki, repatriation of New Zealand Defence Force officers and their families who were buried overseas during 1955-1971.
2. Working with Te Runanga o Kaikōura to exhume and rebury historic kōiwi tangata (human skeletal remains) at risk during roadworks following the Kaikōura earthquake.
3. Being invited by the community in Atiu, Cook Islands to explore and examine human skeletal remains in burial caves on the island.
4. Exhuming and analysing human skeletal remains from cave or chulpa burials at over 3000 meters for six weeks in the Peruvian Andes.
5. Having lunch with Bioarchaeologist Dr Clark Larsen at the 18th European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association in Austria in 2010 and then being awarded the top student prize, the Eve Cockburn Prize for Outstanding Student Podium Presentation. This was topped off a couple of years later when Dr Larsen told me that my PhD thesis was “one of the best” PhD theses that he’d ever read.

What has been the most rewarding and challenging aspects of the job?

Originally from Britain, one of the most challenging and rewarding aspects in my career so far is changing my mindset to analysing human skeletal remains to reflect the culture I am working with.

Working with communities to help uncover the stories of their ancestors, both in Atiu in the Cook Islands, and Huari, in the Ancash region of Peru, in addition to the repatriation of the remains from and within Aotearoa New Zealand, has instilled a deep respect and knowledge of how the culture and beliefs of the living impact how you work with the dead.

I believe that forensic anthropologists, particularly relevant for those in Aotearoa New Zealand, should adopt a holistic bioarchaeological approach to forensic science. By acknowledging that human beings are both sociocultural and biological beings – te tapu o te Tangata – we can provide the respect, dignity and justice for both the deceased and the living.

This year, I have now received research funding to scientifically test this knowledge. My current research involves how traumatic injuries on bone can be accurately reproduced as 3D printed material as evidence in court to explain the circumstances around death, and importantly, what is the matauranga (knowledge) Māori of the digitisation of kōiwi tangata (human skeletal remains) in criminal courts. Relevant to modern forensic casework in Aotearoa New Zealand, my research questions have applications in other areas of the world, especially in countries with deep ancestral and indigenous connections to the land such as the Pacific Islands, Australia, and the Americas. I am very excited to start this research and optimistic about the future of the role of Forensic Anthropology in New Zealand. It currently feels like the most rewarding and challenging aspects of my career are yet to come!

Best piece of advice for students seeking a career in the discipline… 

Remember who you are working for. You are speaking for the dead whilst acknowledging and helping the living.