CAMPUS DIRECTORY

Dr. Amber Plemons

Associate Director, Human Identification Lab

Areas of Concentration

Biological: human variation, population affinity estimation, forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, human rights, juvenile age estimation, digital ethics, repatriation, educational and professional standards

Education

Ph.D., Anthropology, Michigan State University M.A., Applied Anthropology, Mississippi State University B.S., Anthropology, Texas State University

Certifications and Affiliations

Analyst - American Board for Forensic Anthropologist

Associate Member, American Academy of Forensic Sciences Member, Society of Forensic Anthropologists Affiliate Member, Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) POST Instructor, Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training

Dr. Amber Plemons

I completed my doctoral work in biological anthropology at Michigan State University. My dissertation, The Interaction Between Genetics and Climate on Craniofacial Variation: Examining the Causative Forces of Macromorphoscopic Trait Expression, examined how genetics and climate jointly shape craniofacial morphology. My ongoing research applies macromorphoscopic and craniometric data to the estimation of population affinity, including recent collaborative work on Latin American populations, as well as methods in juvenile dental age estimation.

As a forensic anthropologist, I serve as Associate Director of the CSU Chico Human Identification Lab, where I lead the Graduated Analyst Program (GAP), a two level training track mapped to ABFA competencies that moves students from osteology and evidence handling through biological profile estimation and trauma analysis.

My interests in forensic anthropology also relate to the ethical treatment and analysis of unprovenanced, anatomical, and souvenir skeletal remains, and to moving forensic practice toward population affinity frameworks that more accurately reflect human biological variation and evolutionary theory.

I am a POST-certified instructor teaching short courses in homicide investigation and search methods in burned environments. I have assisted in humanitarian efforts in the Republic of Georgia and Sri Lanka. My work in Sri Lanka is ongoing in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross with some grant assistance through the Humanitarian and Human Rights Resource Center (HHRRC).

Selected Publications

Plemons AM, Dunn RR, Spiros MC, Kamnikar KR, Geske N, Hefner JT. 2026. Unprovenanced anatomical crania: A stepwise protocol integrating epitaphonomic signature and population affinity. Humans 6(2):20.

Plemons AM, Spiros MC. 2026. Accessibility and educational standards in human osteology through digital learning practices. Bioarchaeology International 9(3):142.

Plemons AM, Kamnikar KR, Goots A, Biggs J. In press. Landmark and Measurement-based Data Assistant (LAMbDA): A pedagogical tool for cranial landmark data collection. Journal of Forensic Anthropology.

Dunn RR, Spiros MC, Kamnikar KR, Plemons AM, Hefner JT. 2020. Ancestry estimation in forensic anthropology: A review. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Forensic Science. DOI: 10.1002/wfs2.1369

Kamnikar KR, Herrmann NP, Plemons AM. 2018. New approaches to juvenile age estimation in forensics: Application of transition analysis via the Shackelford et al. method to a diverse modern subadult sample. Human Biology.

Plemons AM, Hefner JT. 2016. Ancestry estimation using macromorphoscopic traits. Academic Forensic Pathology.