Board

President

Sandra Lösch

Sandra studied biology with a major in physical anthropology and human genetics at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) in Germany. She received her PhD in 2009 from the Institute of Forensic Medicine at LMU with a thesis on a medieval skeletal collective from alpine Bavaria. She has been head of the Anthropology Department at the Institute of Forensic Medicine since 2010 and habilitated at the Medical Faculty of the University of Bern in 2019. Her team processes human remains on excavations and in the laboratory, and supervise cantonal and international excavations. She also leads scientific projects and teaches at the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Philosophy and History and the Faculty of Law. She supervises students on master and doctoral level at the University of Bern and acts as a reviewer for theses of international universities, for peer-review journals, as well as for international research funding bodies.

Main research interests: forensics, bioarchaeology, nutrition, mobility, paleopathology, prehistory and early history, life in ancient Egypt

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3442-9764

Vice-president

Sandra Pichler

After completing her PhD at the University of Freiburg (D), Sandra was based at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (D) as a Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Volkswagen Foundation funded project «Archive der Vergangenheit». She then joined Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt (D) as a field anthropologist until she moved to the University of Basel (CH) in 2007, first as a Research Associate in the SNF-funded «Neue Grundlagen für sozialgeschichtliche Forschungen in der Prähistorischen Archäologie» project and then as Lecturer. Since 2014, Sandra has been Head of the Archaeoanthropology work group at the Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science unit (IPAS) of the university’s Department of Environmental Sciences. She engages in research and teaches courses in osteoarcheology and archeometry, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Main research interests: cross-disciplinary themes combining biological anthropology, archeology and the sciences, stable isotope analysis, paleodemography, trauma analysis, taphonomy and archeothanatology

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5557-1674

Secretary

Christine Cooper

Christine studied physical anthropology in Zürich. Both her master’s (2003) and doctoral research (2010, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz) focused on trauma in victims of medieval and post-medieval battles. From 2004 to 2010 she was a research assistant at the University of Bern (Anthropology Workgroup, Institute of Medical History). Since 2010 she is employed as an anthropologist at the Archaeology Department/Office of Culture of the Principality of Liechtenstein as well as at the University of Bern (Anthropology Department, Institute of Forensic Medicine).

Main research interests: palaeopathology, osteoarchaeology, funerary practices, prehistoric to post-medieval populations

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7904-808X

Treasurer

Jocelyne Desideri

Jocelyne studied prehistoric archaeology and specialized in bioanthropology in the Biology section at the University of Geneva. Her research has always evolved within interdisciplinary projects dealing mainly with the past population lifestyles and peopling dynamics through a bioanthropological perspective. Within her academic career, she quickly specialized in dental anthropology for both her master's thesis (2001) and her doctoral research (2007). She has progressively integrated new methodologies into her research. Thus, after training in aDNA analysis at the aDNA Laboratory of Lakehead University (Canada), Jocelyne completed a postdoctoral fellowship between 2008 and 2009 in the Archaeological Chemistry Laboratory at the University of Madison (US). Currently, she is lecturer and scientific assistant at the University of Geneva. Since 2013, her main mission is to develop research in bioanthropology, in particular by training the next generation of students (bachelor, master and PhD). In addition to the teaching of bioanthropology, she conducts two field-schools (Albania and Bulgaria) each year to familiarize students with funerary archaeology.

Main research interests: bioanthropology, dental anthropology, isotope geochemistry, peopling dynamics, mobility, lifestyles, paleodiet, prehistoric and historical periods, funerary archaeology, Europe, Africa

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1372-7420

Chief Editor

Claudine Abegg

Claudine Abegg studied forensic archaeology and anthropology at Cranfield University. She followed up with a PhD at the University of Geneva, in prehistoric archaeology, with a focus on paleopathology. Since 2019, she works at the University Centre of Legal Medicine Lausanne-Geneva as a forensic anthropologist.

Research interests: physical anthropology, bioarchaeology, bone lesions, paleopathology, ethics in anthropology.

Webmaster

Lara Indra

Lara completed her Bachelor's at the Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science (IPAS) of the University of Basel in Prehistory and Archaeological Sciences. In the following, she worked in anthropology (forensics and bioarchaeology) during several internships and did her Master's in Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology at Cranfield University in England. Since 2020 she works at the Department of Physical Anthropology at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Bern, working on forensic cases and archaeological remains. 2021 she further started her PhD in forensic anthropology there.

Research interests: Forensic anthropology, forensic archaeology, taphonomy, animal scavenging, biological identification of unknown deceased, Disaster Victim Identification (DVI)

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6644-2133