Dr. Brad Clark teaches journalism at Mount Royal University in Calgary and his research focuses on media representations of marginalized groups. Brad got into teaching after years of experience as a journalist at newspapers and the CBC, where he covered major stories but wanted more variety. I was interested in why journalists ask academics forContinue reading "Scattered Episode 28: The Value of Journalism – Interview with Dr. Brad Clark"

*** This is a continuation of my interview with Brian, without preamble. I *highly* recommend listening to Part 1 first. Brian Paulsen is assistant police chief in Sturgis, South Dakota. He co-wrote a chapter in Forensic Archaeology based on his Master’s thesis about landfill searches in the United States. In this episode we talk about:Continue reading "Scattered Episode 27: Searching Landfills, Pt 2 – Interview with Brian Paulsen"

Brian Paulsen is assistant police chief in Sturgis, South Dakota. He co-wrote a chapter in Forensic Archaeology based on his Master’s thesis about landfill searches in the United States. In this episode we talk about: More information about the Nebraska landfill search can be found here: Notes from the start: Memoirs of a Reluctant Archaeologist,Continue reading "Scattered Episode 27: Searching Landfills, Pt 1 – Interview with Brian Paulsen"

Robyn Lacy is a Ph.D. candidate in the archaeology department at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador.Her research focuses on 17th-century burial landscape development in Northeast North America. Robyn runs a business with her partner, specializing in gravestone conservation in the Atlantic provinces of Canada. In this episode we talk about: You can find moreContinue reading "Scattered Episode 26: Burial Grounds, Space & Preservation – Interview with Robyn Lacy"

Dr. Sasha Reid is an assistant professor at the University of Calgary, teaching in the Departments of Sociology, Psychology, and in the Faculty of Law. She is also currently a law student at the University of Calgary. Sasha came to media attention when she developed a serial homicide database that suggested patterns in homicides inContinue reading "Scattered Episode 25: All About That (Data)base – Interview with Dr. Sasha Reid"

Kimberlee Moran is a professor of forensic archaeology at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey. She holds an undergraduate degree in Classical and Near Eastern archaeology from Bryn Mawr College and a Masters of Science in forensic archaeological science from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London. Kimberlee worked as a contract archaeologist forContinue reading "Scattered Episode 24: Ethics and Human Remains – Interview with Kimberlee Moran"

Brie Smith is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Return Home, a company that specializes in natural organic reduction (NOR), also known as human composting or terramation, as an alternative to burial or cremation. Return Home was founded in 2021 in Washington, USA after the passing of a law allowing NOR, with the goal ofContinue reading "Scattered Episode 23: Human Composting with Return Home – Interview with Brie Smith"

A couple episodes ago, I talked to Alisa Hardy and Taylor Dube-Mather about their experiences doing a practicum at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in Alberta. In this episode, I talked to their supervisor at the time of this practicum, Dr. Janne Holmgren. Janne has been a professor at Mount Royal UniversityContinue reading "Scattered Episode 22: Evidence in Canadian Courts & the OCME Practicum – Interview with Dr. Janne Holmgren"

I talked to Marg because I wanted to find out more about the new group she started, The Fair Field Foundation. My time in consulting archaeology was short-lived and I wanted to find out how Marg was trying to make it a better place. In this episode we talk about: You can find out moreContinue reading "Scattered Episode 21: Archaeology as a Sustainable Career – Interview with Margarita de Guzman"

I talked to Alisa Hardy and Taylor Dube-Mather about their experiences doing a practicum at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) in Alberta. Alisa is currently doing the practicum and Taylor completed the practicum in 2019. I did a very casual version of a practicum at the OCME in Edmonton during my graduateContinue reading "Scattered Episode 20: Practicum at the Medical Examiner – Interview with Alisa Hardy and Taylor Dube-Mather"

Dr. Sherry Nakhaeizadeh is a Lecturer in Crime and Forensic Science at University College London Centre for the Forensic Sciences. “Sherry’s background and research interest lies within forensic science interpretations specifically looking at cognitive and human factors. She is currently interested in the application of technological advancement and AI approaches in method development in forensicContinue reading "Scattered Episode 19: Cognitive Bias and Forensic Anthropology – Interview with...

Dr. Ellen McRae Greytak is Director of Bioinformatics at Parabon NanoLabs, Inc.“Parabon NanoLabs, Inc. (Parabon) is a vertically integrated DNA technology company that develops next-generation therapeutic and forensic products by leveraging the enormous power of DNA.” (from https://parabon-nanolabs.com/about.html) Parabon came to my attention when I read a newspaper article about how Calgary Police detectives used Parabon’sContinue reading "Scattered Episode 18: Predictive Modelling with DNA...

Andrew Bernie is the Manager of Unrecovered War Casualties, Directorate of Sensitive and Strategic Issues Management – Army in Canberra, Australia. I talked to his Canadian colleague, Dr. Sarah Lockyer, in Episode 15. Over World Wars I and II, and the Korean Conflict, approximately 25, 000 Australian soldiers have no known grave. In this episodeContinue reading "Scattered Episode 17: Collaboration and Respecting the Dead – Interview with Andrew Bernie"

Dr. Shari Forbes is a Canada 150 Research Chair in Forensic Thanatology at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR). She has the only human decomposition facility in Canada, REST[ES], the site for Recherche en Sciences Thanatologiques [Expérimentales et Sociales]. I have been collaborating with Shari on the Alberta component of a cross-Canada research study ofContinue reading "Scattered Episode 16: The Scavenging Project – Interview with Dr. Shari Forbes"

Dr. Sarah Lockyer is a Biological Anthropologist and is the Casualty Identification Coordinator for the Canadian Armed Forces and the Department of National Defence. She works with people around the world to identify Canadian service members who have fallen in battle during WWI, WWII and the Korean Conflict, and provide them with a dignified burial.Continue reading "Scattered Episode 15: The Canadian Casualty Identification Program – Interview with Dr. Sarah Lockyer"

Dr. David Errickson is a Forensic Archaeologist with Cranfield University and is part of the team comprising Cranfield Recovery and Identification of the Conflict Casualties (CRICC). While he has worked with forensic cases in the UK, he also works internationally on historical cases, primarily with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA). Lara Indra is aContinue reading "Scattered Episode 14: A Service to the Dead – Interview with Lara Indra & Dr. David Errickson"

Sarah Woodman (formerly Huq) is the Cultural Places Officer at Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. She was a consulting archaeologist for over 10 years and this is how she and I met. In this episode we talk about: Sarah’s background, how she got into archaeology, and why curiosity was pivotalContinue reading "Scattered Episode 13: Putting Humanity into Archaeology – Interview with Sarah Woodman"

Dr. Nicholas Marquez-Grant is a Forensic Anthropologist with Cranfield University. While he has worked with forensic cases in the UK, he also works internationally on historical, humanitarian, and forensic cases. This episode involves discussion of difficult topics such as mass graves, war, conflict, disasters, and damaged or incomplete human remains. Please be advised that whileContinue reading "Scattered Episode 12: Next of Kin & the Forensic Anthropologist – Interview with Dr....

Recent events have caused me to reflect on what brought me to this place of researching and talking about scattered and scavenged remains. In this podcast, you’ll hear about: My anthropological education about translating knowledge between groups Some of my childhood background that caused me to love research and nature How I found anthropology, humanContinue reading "Scattered Episode 11: For the Love"

I met Christine Hymanyk when she and some of her classmates joined the search for the remains of a pig carcass in October 2021. She was an undergraduate student in Anthropology at the University of Alberta. Christine had conducted a small experiment in her own time to discover if there were any differences in theContinue reading "Scattered Episode 10: Christine Hymanyk – Student Experiment"

This episode continues from Episode 7: Shari & the Pig Trials – The Set-up. I recommend you go back and listen to that episode before listening to this, if you haven’t yet done so. In October 2021, we conducted a search exercise on two of the four pig carcasses we deposited near Edmonton. This searchContinue reading "Scattered Episode 09: Shari & the Pig Trials – The Search & Results"

Amanda Johnson is an Acting Detective with the Edmonton Police Service. We met in August 2021 when Shari Forbes and I traveled to Edmonton to set-up a some sites for the “pig trials”. Amanda was a member of the Missing Persons Unit when we first met, but has recently been promoted to the Homicide Unit.Continue reading "Scattered Episode 08: A Police View on Scattered Remains – Interview with A/Det. Amanda Johnson"

Shari Forbes, Ph.D, is a chemist who specializes in the scent of decomposition. She has a “body farm”, REST(ES) at Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières in Quebec, and works with law enforcement dog handlers across Canada to train the dogs on the scent of human cadavers. In April 2021, Shari reached out to my colleague,Continue reading "Scattered Episode 07: Shari & the Pig Trials – The Set-up"

Dan Zadra, David Lewis, and Lyle Willmarth all work with Colorado Parks & Wildlife. Many big thanks to these men for sharing their wisdom with me! Dan is a Wildlife/Property Technician who used to be a hunting guide. Dave works seasonally and part-time with CPW, and Lyle is full-time veteran with over 25 years underContinue reading "Scattered Episode 06: Bears – Interviews with Dan, Dave and Lyle"