Bio & Expertise
Dr. Samantha McCrane is a Clinical Professor of Forensic Anthropology at the University of West Florida, with a concurrent appointment as a Forensic Anthropologist in the District 1 Medical Examiner’s Office.
Dr. McCrane is a broadly trained biological anthropologist with dual specializations in forensic and genetic anthropology. Her research interests include human identification and trauma analysis, touch DNA, ethics, human variation, cognitive bias, taphonomy, pXRF, and machine learning.
In addition to her work in academia, Dr. McCrane has diverse applied experience in forensic and bioarchaeological contexts. Dr. McCrane frequently works with medicolegal entities, including medical examiners, law enforcement, death investigators, fire investigators, and ASPCA animal cruelty investigators. She has consulted on forensic casework in Florida, New Hampshire, Maine, Colorado, Georgia, New York, and Louisiana, has first-authored over 45 forensic anthropology case reports and peer-reviewed 20+ others, and has directed approximately two dozen field recoveries. Samantha has also assisted with several prominent bioarchaeological excavations, including the Tulsa Race Massacre excavation in Tulsa, Oklahoma (2021), the Sisters of Loretto exhumation and relocation in Denver, Colorado (2022), and the Penhallow House excavation at the Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (2016). She is also currently working on a historic preservation and community engagement project of Newnansville Cemetery, a historic African American cemetery in Alachua, Florida.
In 2024, Dr. McCrane also co-authored a four-field Anthropology-themed children’s alphabet book (2024 McCrane SM and Fry MH. A is for Anthropology. https://a.co/d/1kUAx0g), inspired by her own young son, Cassian.