Erin Waxenbaum

Erin Waxenbaum is a Professor of Instruction in the Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University. She is a board-certified forensic anthropologist and serves as the Forensic Anthropologist for the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office and multiple Illinois coroner’s offices. Her research focuses on human skeletal variation, particularly in Native North American populations, and she collaborates with institutions like the Smithsonian Institution and Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History. Waxenbaum’s work emphasizes repatriation projects under NAGPRA guidelines and methodological advancements in forensic anthropology.

She holds a PhD in Anthropology from the University of Florida (2007). Her postdoctoral training included a Visiting Scientist position at the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office. Her teaching portfolio includes courses on human origins, forensic anthropology, and osteology.

Research interests span biological anthropology, skeletal biology, and forensic applications, with recent emphases on climatic stress impacts, human growth patterns, and marginalized groups in STEM. She actively contributes to forensic casework analysis and ethical frameworks in anthropological practice. Waxenbaum leads projects integrating museum collections, archaeological data, and modern forensic methodologies to address both academic and applied challenges.

Her collaborative work at the Smithsonian and Field Museum includes studies on Ancestral Puebloans, limb asymmetry, and functional dismemberment analysis. She advocates for inclusive practices in forensic education and equitable representation in anthropological research.