My current research focuses on the analysis of human skeletal remains associated with the 1845 expedition of Sir John Franklin. In collaboration with colleagues from Nunavut, the University of Waterloo, Western University, and the University of Saskatchewan, I have been conducting osteological analyses of remains recovered from King William Island in the central Canadian Arctic. These analyses include oxygen and strontium isotope analysis to investigate the geographic origins of these individuals, lead analysis to investigate lead levels and the timing and duration of lead exposure, and DNA analysis with the goal of constructing genetic profiles of crewmembers who perished on the expedition, identifying the number of individuals represented by the skeletal remains that have been recovered to date, identifying skeletal elements belonging to the same individual, and ultimately, aiding in the identification of some of these individuals based on comparisons with DNA derived from living descendants.
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