Member of SCNAT

The umbrella organisation of anthropologists in Switzerland represents the interests of the discipline to the general public and the authorities. Its members are mainly composed of experts with a focus on natural science.

Image: LoveIsAFastSong, photocase.de

Board

The Committee is elected for three years. The last elections will took place in 2021.



Sandra Lösch

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

Christine Cooper
Image: SGA/SSA

Vice-president

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


David Roth
Image: David Roth

Secretary

David Roth

David studied prehistoric and archaeological sciences as well as Prehistory and Early History at the University of Basel. He completed his Master's degree in Archaeoanthropology in 2019. In his master's thesis, he investigated taphonomic changes and perimortem violence on Neolithic skeletons from the El Trocs cave in the Pyrenees. Since 2020, he has been working at the Archäologische Bodenforschung Basel-Stadt as an anthropologist and technical supervisor. He is currently supervising the excavation in Freie Strasse. Additionally, he also works at the Natural History Museum Basel. The practical application of physical anthropology during excavations and the workflow between anthropology and archaeology are important to him.

Main areas of research: Physical anthropology, traumatology, workflow and the interdisciplinary connection between archaeology and anthropology


Jocelyne Desideri
Image: SGA/SSA

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


Claudine Abegg
Image: SGA/SSA

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.


Lara Indra taking samples at her forensic research project
Image: Lara Indra

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

Sandra Lösch

Physical Anthropology
Institute of Forensic Medicine
Bern University
Murtenstrasse 26
CH - 3008 Bern


e-Mail:

Sandra.Loesch@irm.unibe.ch

Christine Cooper

Amt für Kultur / Archäologie
Messinastrasse 5
9595 Triesen
Liechtenstein


christine.cooper@Ilv.li

David Roth

Archäologische Bodenforschung des Kantons Basel-Stadt
Petersgraben 11
4051 Basel


e-Mail:

david.roth@bs.ch

Jocelyne Desideri

University of Geneva
Archéologie de l'Afrique et Anthropologie (ARCAN)
Quai Ernest-Ansermet 30
CH - 1211 Genève 4


e-Mail:

Jocelyne.Desideri@unige.ch

Claudine Abegg

University Center of Legal Medicine Lausanne-Geneva
Unit of forensic imaging and anthropology
Chemin de la Vulliette 4
CH - 1000 Lausanne 25


e-Mail:

abeggc.v@gmail.com

Lara Indra

Department of Anthropology
Institute of Forensic Medicine
University of Bern
Murtenstrasse 26
CH - 3008 Bern


e-Mail:

lara.indra@irm.unibe.ch