Current Doctoral Students
Bonnie Taylor graduated from the Australian National University in 2018 with a double degree in a Bachelor of Archaeological Practice and a Bachelor of Science. Bonnie has recently completed her Honours year in 2019 under the supervision of Professor Marc Oxenham and Dr Clare McFadden.
Currently Bonnie is undertaking a PhD that builds on previous palaeopathological analyses of the Ranelagh, Co. Roscommon, skeletal collection by Professor Eileen Murphy's team. Bonnie will be using a combination of macro and microscopic methods to further explore the issue of metabolic bone disease in Early Medieval Ireland, drawing on recent bioarchaeological developments (see related projects link above) in palaeodemography and palaeoepidemiology. |
Stine Carlsson graduated from Queen's University Belfast in 2018 with a Joint Bachelor of Arts degree in Archaeology and History, having completed her dissertation on the topic of adult age-at-death estimation under the supervision of Dr Melie Le Roy. In October 2019, she completed an MSc in Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee, and her dissertation research was entitled ‘The Inter- and Intra-observer Reliability of Auricular Surface Age-at-death Estimation on Dry Bone, 3D Structured Light (SL) Scans and Photographs’. Stine is undertaking a PhD as part of the QUADRAT Doctoral Training Partnership Programme at Queen's University Belfast and University of Aberdeen, generously funded by the NERC, under the supervision of Professor Eileen Murphy and Dr Rebecca Crozier, with Professor Jenny McKinley (QUB) and Professor Marc Oxenham (Aberdeen) also members of her supervisory team. Her project – ‘Medical Geology: The Impact of the Natural Environment on Health in Past Populations from Ireland and Scotland’ – focuses on the impacts of the natural environment on the health of Medieval populations from Ireland and Scotland. The project will investigate if there is a correlation between the underlying geology and physiological stress.
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Originally from Pennsylvania, USA, Courtney Mundt completed a BSc Archaeological Science degree at Penn State University in 2013 before completing an MA Archaeology at University College Dublin in 2017. She then worked for two years as a Site Assistant in commercial archaeology in the Republic of Ireland before beginning her PhD at Queen’s in 2019. Courtney’s doctoral research is entitled ‘Mapping the Physical and Religious Influences behind Cillíní Distribution on the Island of Ireland’. It focuses on researching the religious and social influences that helped to influence the creation of cillíní (children’s burial grounds), and on using GIS to map the sites across Ireland. These unconsecrated burial grounds are often found in older, abandoned archaeological sites, and were used from the 16th to the 20th centuries to inter unbaptised and stillborn children, as well as some adults who were considered to be ineligible for burial in consecrated ground. He supervisory team comprise Professor Eileen Murphy, Dr. Colm Donnelly and Dr. Siobhan McDermott, all of Queen’s University Belfast.
Rosalie D. Hopko graduated from The College at Brockport, State University of New York in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science, having completed a major in Anthropology and a dual minor in History and Museum Studies. In 2018, she completed an MSc in Human Osteoarchaeology at the University of Edinburgh. Her dissertation research was entitled “An examination of sharp force trauma and the use of synthetic bone models through the analysis and presentation of Pictish specimen LL3”. Rosalie is currently undertaking a Ph.D. at The University of Aberdeen that focuses on the biological, social, and historical implications of trauma and violence in later medieval Scotland. She will be working with a collection of medieval skeletons and historical materials available at The University of Aberdeen under the joint supervision of Dr. Alastair J. Macdonald and Dr. Rebecca Crozier. This interdisciplinary analysis uses both history and osteoarchaeology to provide a fuller insight into life and death in later medieval Scotland.
Elizabeth Ashcroft (nee Myerscough) graduated from The University of Liverpool with a MBChB in 1975 and she accredited as a Consultant Paediatrician in 1992. Her postgraduate qualifications included Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners, and Fellowships of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. Her specialty interest, until her retirement in 2018, was in child abuse and neglect. She completed a Certificate in Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen, and in 2019-2020 continued to a MSc in Osteoarchaeology (with distinction). Her MSc thesis was titled “The Causes and Effects of Skeletal Trauma on People from Medieval and Post – Medieval Scotland: An Investigation of the Burial Assemblage of from St Nicholas Kirk, New Aberdeen”. Liz is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Aberdeen under the joint supervision of Dr Rebecca Crozier and Professor Marc Oxenham. Her thesis proposes a novel approach and research model which integrates bioarchaeology, forensic paediatrics, and historical context (Medieval Scotland), to investigate the archaeological evidence of childhood trauma, specifically child abuse and neglect. re to edit.
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Jess White is a PhD researcher in Queen’s University Belfast where she is undertaking a project entitled ‘Biomechanics of Physically Impaired Individuals from Medieval Ireland’ under the supervision of Professor Eileen Murphy and Dr Alex Lennon. Her research focuses on physically impaired individuals Ballyhanna, Co. Donegal, and Ranelagh, Co. Roscommon, and aims to reconstruct their gait using high-tech computer simulation software. It also focuses on the bioarchaeology of care and explores the medical treatments that may have been afforded to these individuals. Prior to commencing her PhD she undertook a BSc DNA and Forensic Science degree at the Institute of Technology Tallaght which was followed by an MA Biological Anthropology at the University of New Brunswick, Canada. Her MA research focused on the use of three-dimensional geometric morphometrics in assessing cranial morphology of 18th – 19th-century populations from Québec, Canada. The aim of this study was to determine whether high-resolution measurements improves the ability to detect patterning and variation.
Irmine Roshem is originally from France and graduated from the University of York where she completed a bachelor of science in Archaeology in 2019. She then stayed at the same university to complete a masters in Bioarchaeology in 2020. Her dissertation was entitled ‘How will climate change affect human bone preservation? A study on Pictish Dunkeld and Laig using UKCP18’. She is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Aberdeen called 'Climate Change in the Medieval Northern World and its impact on Respiratory Health’ under the supervision of Dr Rebecca Crozier, Prof Eileen Murphy and Prof Marc Oxenham. She will be working on skeletal collections from the University of Aberdeen and Queen’s University Belfast from before, during and after the Little Ice Age. The aim of this study is to use an interdisciplinary approach to determine the effects of climate warming on populations’ respiratory health.
Franco- American, Elisabeth Chaumont-Sturtevant graduated from Bangor University (Wales) in 2018 with a BA (Hons) in History, Heritage and Archaeology. In 2019, she completed her MSc in Osteoarchaeology at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) under the supervision of Professor Rebecca Crozier. Her masters research focused on trauma associated with interpersonal violence in Medieval skeletons, from the site ‘The Green’, in Aberdeen. With an interest in the application of an Archaeology of Cremation, starting Autumn 2020, Elisabeth will continue on at the University of Aberdeen as a PhD student under the supervision of the Professors Rebecca Crozier and Marc Oxenham. Through the re-analysis of Bronze Age cremations, this research will discuss the complexities surrounding mortuary practices and the place of the dead in Bronze Age Scotland.
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Past Masters Students
James Staples, University of Aberdeen, is studying infectious disease in a medieval cemetery sample from St Nicolas Kirk, Aberdeen, Scotland.
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Meghan Williams, University of Aberdeen, is researching mortuary practices of Neolithic children from Orkney, Scotland.
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Dr Elizabeth Ashcroft, University of Aberdeen, is examining trauma in a medieval cemetery sample from St Nicolas Kirk, Aberdeen, Scotland.
Emma Parker, University of Aberdeen, is investigating osteoarthritis in British Medieval rural and urban populations.
Lisa White, Queen’s University Belfast, is studying body processing in the Late Neolithic population from Millin Bay, Co. Down.
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Rachel Condon, University of Aberdeen, is looking at the evidence for anaemia, scurvy and rickets in German Medieval datasets.
Dawn Cooper, Queen’s University Belfast, is undertaking a study of adolescents in Medieval Ireland
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Honours Students
Britta Van Tiel is undertaking her Honours' at the Australian National University. Her thesis examines population health and dynamics in Viking period populations in Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia.
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Gina Basile is currently undertaking the Bachelor of Archaeological Practice with Honours at the Australian National University. Her Honours' thesis focuses on a reassessment of the Neolithic Demographic Model on a global scale, including the UK and Europe.
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