Ariel
Gruenthal-Rankin

I'm a biocultural osteologist who explores how research in forensics and bioarchaeology accounts for people of marginalized identities. I am particularly passionate about the integration of critical social theory and community-facing work in forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology.

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My forensic anthropology research focuses on how our analytical methods speak to (or fail to speak to) diverse lived experiences. My current research evaluates how we can account for social vulnerability of individuals associated with forensic casework from an intersectional and interdisciplinary perspective. The goal of this research to to provide forensic anthropologists with a better understanding how structural violence affects our work and provide pathways for community-level advocacy. Additionally, I am interested in evaluating how adverse childhood experiences affect trauma healing among children. My applied experience in forensics includes serving as a death investigator, autopsy technician, and forensic anthropologist in Northern California and New York.

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My bioarchaeological research utilizes an interdisciplinary framework to investigate early-life dietary and physiological stress among Old Prussian individuals from medieval Prussia (Poland). The goal of this project is to understand how differences in childhood lived experiences manifest as health differentials across the lifecourse, impacting well-being and survival in the wake of colonization for Old Prussians. My bioarchaeological research runs in conjunction with ongoing field schools in Poland, including our new site at Żelewo.