Heather Garvin-Elling, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Master of Science in Anatomy Program

Additional Roles
Associate Professor, Anatomy

515-271-1694 (Office Phone)

Areas of Expertise

Anatomy, Anthropology, Basic Science, Forensics, Skeletal Variation

Dr. Heather Garvin joined DMU from Mercyhurst University where she taught undergraduate and graduate students in their Forensic Anthropology, Anthropology, and Physician’s Assistant programs. Her research interests focus on human skeletal variation, and she has worked on everything from modern forensic anthropology cases to hominin fossil remains. She was involved in the discovery and analysis of a new species of human ancestor, Homo naledi, from fossil remains discovered in South Africa in 2014. She is also one of only 79 active board-certified forensic anthropologists (D-ABFA) in the U.S., and continues to be involved in forensic anthropology cases. Dr. Garvin is also a Co-PI on an NIJ grant working towards develoing improved subadult sex and estimation standards from a large collection of postmortem subadult CT scans. Ultimately, Dr. Garvin strives to understand human skeletal variation in terms of functional, evolutionary, and environmental influences and much of her research entails using 3D imaging and geometric morphometric methods to analyze variation in skeletal morphology.

CV available upon request.

Education:
Ph.D., Functional Anatomy & Evolution., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
M.S., Biological and Forensic Anthropology, Mercyhurst College
B.S., Zoology, University of Florida
B.A. Anthropology, University of Florida

Research

Publications and Presentations

Publications:

2017 Garvin HM, Elliott MC, Delezene LK, Hawks J, Churchill SE, Berger LR, Holliday TW. Body size, brain size, and sexual dimorphism in Homo naledi. Journal of Human Evolution. In Press.

2017 Hawks J, Elliott M, Schmid P, Churchill S, de Ruiter D, Roberts EM, Hilbert-Wolf H, Garvin HM, et al. New fossil remains of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa. e-Life 6, e24232.

2017 Laird MF, Schroeder L, Garvin HM, Scott JE, Dembo M, Radovcic D, Musiba CM, Ackermann RR, Schmid P, Hawks J, Berger LR, de Ruiter DJ. The skull of Homo naledi. Journal of Human Evolution 104, 100-123.

2017 Schroeder L, Scott JE, Garvin HM, Laird MF, Dembo M, Radovcic D, de Ruiter DJ, Ackermann RR. Skull diversity in the Homo lineage and the relative position of Homo naledi. Journal of Human Evolution 104, 124-135.

2016 Garvin HM, Stock MK. The utility of advanced imaging in forensic anthropology. Academic Forensic Pathology 6(3):499-516.

2016 Lesciotto KM*, Cabo LL, Garvin HM. A Morphometric analysis of prognathism and the gnathic index. HOMO– Journal of Comparative Human Biology. 67(4):294-312.

2016 Dembo M, Radobviv D, Garvin HM, Laird MF, Schroeder L, Scott JE, Brophy J, Ackermann RR, Musiba CM, de Ruiter DJ, Mooers AO, Collard M. The evolutionary relationships and age of Homo naledi: An assessment using dated Bayesian phylogenetic methods. Journal of Human Evolution 97:17-26.

2016 Lewis C*, Garvin HM. Reliability of the Walker cranial non-metric method and implications for sex estimation. Journal of Forensic Sciences 61(3):743-751. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.13013.

2016 Stock MK, Stull KE, Garvin HM, Klales AR. Development of modern human subadult age and sex estimation standards using multi-slice computed tomography images from medical examiner’s office. Developments in X-Ray Tomography X, edited by S.R. Stock, B. Muller, and G. Wang, Proc. of SPIE 9967:99670E. doi:10.1117/12.2237180.

2015 Berger LR, Hawks H, de Ruiter DJ, Churchill SE, Schmid P, Delezene LK, Divell TL, Garvin HM et al. Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa. eLife 2015;4:e09560. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.09560.

2015 Ruff CB, Holt BM, Niskanen M, Sladek V, Berner M, Garofalo E, Garvin HM, et al. Gradual decline in mobility with the adoption of food production in Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112:7147-7152.

2014 Garvin HM, Sholts SB, Mosca LA*. Sexual dimorphism in human cranial trait scores: Effects of population, age, and body size. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 154:259-269.

2012 Garvin HM, Ruff CB. Sexual dimorphism in skeletal browridge and chin morphologies determined using a new quantitative method. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 147:661-670.

2012 Garvin HM, Passalacqua NV. Current practices by forensic anthropologists in adult skeletal age estimation. Journal of Forensic Sciences. 57: 427–433.

2012 Garvin HM. Adult sex determination: Methods and application. In: Dirkmaat DC, editor. Forensic anthropology companion. Wiley-Blackwell.

2012 Garvin HM, Passalacqua NV, Uhl NM, Gipson DR, Overbury RS, Cabo LL. Developments in forensic anthropology: Age-at-death estimation. In: Dirkmaat DC, editor. Forensic anthropology companion. Wiley-Blackwell.

2012 Shearer BM, Sholts SB, Garvin HM, Wärmländer KTS. Sexual dimorphism in browridge volume measured from 3D models of dry human crania: A pilot study using digital morphometrics. Forensic Science International 222:400.e1-e5.

2010 Garvin HM. Limitations of cartilage ossification as an indicator of age at death. In: Latham K, Finnegan M, editors. Age estimation of the human skeleton. Springfield: Charles C Thomas Publisher, LTD. p 118-133.

2008 Garvin HM. Ossification of laryngeal structures as indicators of age. Journal of Forensic Sciences 53:1023-1027.

Contact faculty member for list of published abstracts/presentations; * indicates student coauthor