معرفی
Katie M. Binetti, PhD, is a Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Program Director at Baylor University's Department of Anthropology. As a paleoanthropologist, she focuses on paleoenvironmental reconstruction through fossil faunal community analyses, particularly in African contexts spanning the late Miocene to Middle Pleistocene. Her research connects paleoenvironments with human evolutionary selection pressures and includes fieldwork in Kenya with the National Museums of Kenya, Division of Earth Sciences.
- PhD in Anthropology (Yale University, 2011)
- MPhil in Anthropology (Yale University, 2003)
- BA in Anthropology and History (UCLA, 2000)
Her laboratory work includes co-directing Baylor's Human Anatomy, Human Osteology, and Zooarchaeology Labs, where she investigates taphonomic processes applicable to paleontology, archaeology, and forensics. She teaches courses ranging from introductory anthropology to specialized forensic and osteological studies.
Her research integrates field studies of modern African faunal communities with fossil analysis to reconstruct ancient environments. Recent work involves experimental taphonomy studies comparing bone surface morphology under different degradation processes to create comparative datasets for specimen interpretation.
Teaching activities include:
- Human Osteology (ANT/FORS 3331)
- Forensic Anthropology (ANT/FORS 4355)
- Primate Behavior (ANT 4365)
- Human Fossil Record (ANT 4335)
- Introduction to Anthropology (ANT 1305)
- Introduction to Human Evolution (ANT 1404)
- Death, Injury and Physical Remains (ANT 4358/FORS 4359)
At Baylor, she co-directs three specialized laboratories and incorporates active research components into her teaching, including student-led projects presented during URSA Scholar's Week.
