Biography

Catherine is a PhD student specializing in biological anthropology at the University of Central Florida. She received a B.S. in Anthropology from the College of Charleston in 2021 and an M.A. in Anthropology from the University of Central Florida in 2023. Her master’s thesis focused on applying geometric morphometric techniques to juvenile skulls to assess sexual dimorphism prior to puberty.

Catherine is working under the advisement of Dr. Sarah Freidline, with her research examining the relationship between hormones, cranial shape and size variation, cranial vault thickness, and cortical thickness. Her work has applications in both forensic anthropology and evolutionary research, contributing to improved methods for sex and age estimation as well as a deeper understanding of skeletal variation across populations and time periods.

In addition to her research, Catherine has expertise in forensic programs such as MorphoPASSE and FORDISC, as well as medical imaging tools like AVIZO and 3D Slicer. She is also exploring the use of artificial intelligence in skeletal analyses to enhance forensic identification methods and investigate patterns of craniofacial variation in human evolution.

Research Interests/Specializations:

• Geometric morphometric techniques
• Growth and Development
• Biological Profile
• Hormonal influences on cranial shape, size variation, and cortical thickness
• Evolutionary and population-based variation
• Craniofacial variation of past and present populations
• Artificial intelligence applications in skeletal analysis