Robin C. Reineke

Robin C. Reineke is an Associate Professor in the School of Anthropology and Assistant Research Social Scientist at the Southwest Center, both at the University of Arizona. Her work focuses on forensic anthropology, sociocultural responses to death/disappearance, and structural violence along the US-Mexico border. She co-founded the Colibrí Center for Human Rights (2013–2019) to address migrant disappearances and has collaborated extensively with the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner. Her current projects include Forensic Citizenship in the Borderlands, a binational oral history initiative documenting civilian forensic expertise, and her forthcoming book With the Dead, For the Living: Forensic Care in the US-Mexico Borderlands.

Research interests include forensic science ethics, humanitarian anthropology, and the intersection of death studies with migration policy. She teaches courses such as ANTH 365 (Forensic Anthropology) and ANTH 150B (Many Ways of Being Human). Her work has been featured in New York Times, CNN, and BBC documentaries like Missing Migrants: The Documentary.

Key contributions include documenting over 2,000 border migrant deaths since 1990, analyzing structural vulnerabilities in identification systems, and advocating for binational forensic collaboration. Her research bridges academic anthropology with grassroots activism, emphasizing marginalized voices in forensic processes.