Dr Anna Williams

Lecturer in Forensic Anthropology
Location: Shrivenham campus
E: a.williams@cranfield.ac.uk
T: +44 (0)1793 314466
Department of Engineering and Applied Science


Current activities

Anna is the Lecturer in Forensic Anthropology at Cranfield Forensic Institute. She is the Head of the Centre for Forensic Anthropology Research. She is Theme Leader for Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology and Module Leader for the two core (Fundamentals of Forensic Anthropology: Osteology; Further Forensic Anthropology: Identification) and two elective Forensic Anthropology modules (Mass Fatality Incidents; Forensic Craniofacial Identification) on the Forensic Masters programme.

Anna is a practicing Forensic Anthropologist, and regularly undertakes consultancy work for local police forces, Forensic Engineering Solutions and Kenyon International Emergency Services. She also acts as a scientific advisor for the media, and has advised television dramas and documentaries (BBC – Silent Witness; Channel 4; Discovery Channel) and award winning crime novelists such as Ann Cleeves and Timothy Williams. She is regularly invited to give lectures at local interest events.

Anna has recently taken part in the prize-winning public engagement initiative I'm A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here, where school children and scientists chat online in an X-factor style competition. She won a £500 prize in the Forensic Zone to be used for a science communication project. Anna is planning to run a decomposition workshop for teenagers on the Forensic Fieldwork Facility in summer 2012.

Follow Anna's blog at Forensic Anna:thropology 

Awards

  • CDS Teaching Fellowship (2010-2011) £8000
  • I'm A Scientist, Get Me Out Of Here (Wellcome Trust) £500

Professional Memberships

  • Royal Anthropological Institute (Fellow)
  • Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management (Fellow)
  • Higher Education Academy (Fellow)
  • The Forensic Science Society (Professional Member)
  • British Association for Human Identification
  • British Association for Biological Anthropologists and Osteoarchaeologists


Research
Anna’s research interests include:

  • The neurological effect of artificial cranial deformation and craniosynostosis
  • The dominance of women in Forensic Anthropology education and practice.
  • Estimation of the ‘trauma-death interval’ in bone fractures – ‘ageing’ fractures
  • Histological and immunohistochemical analysis of child abuse fractures.
  • Trauma analysis of skeletal remains.
  • Disaster Victim Identification.
  • Holistic disaster management approaches.
  • Decomposition and taphonomy research
  • PhD Supervision - The development of new tools for forensic analysis of DNA from compromised bone.

Background

  • PGCert in Learning, Teaching and Assessment in Higher Education, Cranfield University (2011)
  • PhD Forensic Anthropology, University of Sheffield (2005)
  • MSc Forensic Anthropology, University of Bradford (1999)
  • MA (Oxon) Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Oxford (1998)

Anna completed her doctorate at the University of Sheffield, where she used novel histological and immunohistochemical techniques to quantify bone fracture healing, which is of particular relevance to the investigation of child abuse and identification of unknown individuals. She joined Cranfield University at the Shrivenham campus in September 2004 as a post-doctoral researcher working on the determination of age at death from bone for forensic purposes. In September 2006 Anna became a Lecturer in Forensic Anthropology teaching on the new MSc in Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology. She was made Theme Leader in 2009, and was awarded the CDS Teaching Fellowship in June 2010.


In the Media

Previous Appointments

  • 2004-2006 Post-doctoral Researcher, Cranfield University. A Laboratory Based Analytical Technique to Determine ‘Age at Death’ For Forensic Purposes from Human Compact Bone.
  • 2001-2004 Junior Forensic Anthropologist, Medico-Legal Centre, Sheffield    
  • 2000-2001 Forensic Mark Analyst, West Yorkshire Police

Selected publications

Fredericks, J. Bennett, P. Williams, A. and Rogers, K. (2011) FTIR spectroscopy: A new diagnostic tool to aid DNA analysis from heated bone. Forensic Science International: Genetics. (published online 3rd October 2011)

Fredericks, J. Brown, K. Bennett, P. Williams, A. and Rogers, K. (2012) DNA analysis of skeletal tissue recovered from the English Channel. Journal of Forensic Sciences. (JOFS-11-443)

Williams, A. (2011) The Human Bone. In Mileson, S. and Nicholls, D. (2011) The ‘Lost’ Church of Bix Gibwyn. Oxoniensia, 76: 15-36.

Williams, A. and Richards, M. (2011) The Effect of Cultural Cranial Deformation on Neurological Development: A Beneficial or Disadvantageous Practice? Presented at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference, Chicago 21-25th Feb 2011.

Williams, A. (2011) Femmes Fatales: Why Women Dominate the Discipline of Forensic Anthropology. Presented at the American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference, Chicago 21-25th Feb 2011.

Williams, A. (2010) The Search for the Missing Church of St Michael's, Bix Gibwyn, Bix: Concluded? Initial Analysis of Human Remains. South Oxfordshire Archaeological Group Bulletin, 64: 17-21.

Williams, A. (2010) Human Remains Found While Searching for the 'Lost' Church of Bix Gibwyn. South Midlands Archaeology. 40: 58-61

Williams, A. Temple, T. Pollard, S. Jones, R. and Ritz, K. (2009) Environmental Considerations for Common Burial Site Selection After Pandemic Events. In: Ritz, K. Dawson, L. and Miller, D. (eds) (2009) Criminal and Environmental Soil Forensics. Springer, UK. pp: 87 – 101.

Shortland, A. Masters, P. Harrison, K. Williams, A. and Boston, C. (2008) Burials of eighteenth-century Naval personnel: preliminary results from excavations at the Royal Hospital Haslar, Gosport (Hants). Antiquity 82, 317.

Magnanti, B. and Williams, A. (2008) Decomposition and Post-Mortem Interval: A Critical Analysis of British Medico-Legal Investigation and Trends in South Yorkshire, 1995-2002. Presented at American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Washington DC, 2008.

Temple, T. and Williams, A. (2008) Mass Graves as a Waste Disposal Solution? Presented at American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Washington DC, 2008.

Payne, L. and Williams, A. (2007) Managing Potential Conflict Between Forensic Procedures and the Needs of the Bereaved. Journal of the Institute of Civil Defence and Disaster Studies, W 06/07: 16-17.

Payne, L. and Williams, A. (2007)The Implications of a Rights-Based Approach for the Forensic Scientist After UK Mass Fatality. Presented at British Association of Human Identification, Guilford, UK, April 2007.

Zioupos, P.; Christodoulou, G.; Giles, R. and Williams, A (2005) An Analytical Method to Determine ‘Age at Death’ For Forensic Purposes From Human Compact Bone. Presented at the 17th Meeting of the International Association of Forensic Sciences, Hong Kong, August 21-26.