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Heather Garvin, Ph.D., D-ABFA
Associate Professor of Anatomy
Department of Anatomy
Des Moines Medical University

Dr. Heather Garvin, D-ABFA, is currently an Associate Professor of Anatomy at Des Moines University. She received bachelor degrees in Zoology and Anthropology from the University of Florida, an M.S. in Forensic and Biological Anthropology from Mercyhurst College, and a Ph.D. in Functional Anatomy and Evolution from Johns Hopkins University. She became a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology in 2017. Dr. Garvin taught for five years in Mercyhurst’s graduate and undergraduate forensic anthropology programs where she also mentored student research projects and supervised forensic anthropological casework. She currently conducts casework for the State of Iowa. She also serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Forensic Sciences and is currently involved in two National Institute of Justice research grants. She has authored or co-authored 31 publications and 57 national meeting presentations, many of which are focused on human skeletal sexual dimorphism. She was also involved in the original description and analysis of the Homo naledi remains.

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