I am on Sabbatical until August 2027.  I will be accepting graduate students for Fall 2027 but will not be responding to individual emails.  If you wish to have a virtual meeting with me after applying to the department, please sign up for a virtual (zoom) meeting time in December 2026. 

Dawnie Wolfe Steadman is a Chancellor’s Professor in the Department of Anthropology and a UTAA Distinguished Service Professor. Before coming to the University of Tennessee in 2011, she was faculty at Iowa State University and Binghamton University, SUNY. She served as the Director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at UTK from 2011 until 2025.  She is a Diplomate (#72) of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and is a past Vice President of the Board.  Her edited book, Hard Evidence: Case Studies in Forensic Anthropology, is in its second edition and emphasizes the multidisciplinary, collaborative nature of the forensic sciences. 

Education

PhD, 1997, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago

MA, 1992, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago             

BA, 1989, Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona

Specialties

Forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, forensic human rights investigations. Some of my recent work focuses on the bioarchaeology of mass graves at the Phaleron Cemetery in Athens, Greece, forensic human rights work in Africa, and exposing junk forensic science. 

Research

I am a skeletal biologist who specializes in forensic anthropology, bioarchaeology, and forensic human rights investigations.  All of my work is highly collaborative, including with population geneticists, chemists, soils scientists, entomologists, computer scientists and many more amazing colleagues!  I have conducted several federally funded projects at the Forensic Anthropology Center and the Anthropology Research Facility, the most recent of which include how end of life diseases and drugs in the body affect decomposition, the accuracy of certified cadaver dogs in detecting decedent residual odor, and the characterization of volatile organic compounds across the decomposition period.  In bioarchaeology, I have had amazing opportunities to work on historic poorhouse cemeteries as well as ancient sites, including at Monjukli Depe in Turkmenistan and an ancient mass grave site at Phaleron in Athens, Greece.  I have also been involved in forensic human rights investigations in several countries, including Argentina, Cyprus, Spain and Uganda. One of my more recent teaching and research passions is the cellular biology of skeletal pathological conditions. 

Mentoring

My graduate students are absolutely amazing.  I have mentored 30 PhD students and 29 MA students to completion as of 2026.  They are conducting research all over the world in anatomy, archaeology, human rights and all facets of biological anthropology.  You will find them working in medical examiner’s offices, universities, DPAA, museums, human rights NGOs, federal government agencies, and private industry.  You can find their dissertation and thesis topics in my CV.

Professional Services (selected, last 10 years)

2011 – 2025, Director, Forensic Anthropology Center
2025, Co-Chair, Ethics Committee, American Association of Biological
Anthropologists
2023 – Member, Forensic Anthropology Subcommittee, Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) for Forensic Science
2020 – Chair, Humanitarian and Human Rights Resource Center, American Academy of Forensic Sciences
2023 – 2025, At large member, Section H Steering Committee, American Association for the Advancement of Science (appointed by Section H president)
2017 – 2022, Board member and co-chair, AAAS Advisory Committee of the National Conference of Lawyers and Scientists, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2015 – 2017, Vice President, American Board of Forensic Anthropology
2012 – 2017, Board Member, American Board of Forensic Anthropology
2015, National Academy of Science, Committee on Law and Justice, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, Committee on Strengthening Forensic Science at the National Institute of Justice

Awards and Recognitions (Selected)

2026 University of Tennessee Alumni Association Distinguished Service Professor Award
2020 – Chancellor’s Professor, University of Tennessee
2020 – 2025 Dr. William H. Bass Professor, University of Tennessee
2017 – 2019 Betty Lynn Hendrickson Professorship, University of Tennessee
2011 Elected as Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

Publications*

*see CV for full list

Edited Books

Steadman DW (ed.) Hard Evidence: Case Studies in Forensic Anthropology, 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781315664057 (2009)

Steadman DW (ed.) Hard Evidence: Case Studies in Forensic Anthropology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. (2003)

Peer Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters (last 10 years)

Boyd DC, Steadman DW, Marzani GR, Andersen V. Recognizing and mitigating the effects of occupational exposure to traumatic death in forensic anthropology. Journal of Forensic Sciences https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.70246 (2025)

Nau AM, Ditto P, Steadman DW, Mockus A. Towards automation of human stage of decay identification: An artificial intelligence approach. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. Sep 29:102987. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2025.102987 (2025)

Seitz VA, McGivern BB, Shaffer M, Borton MA, Belk AD, Ghadermazi P, Martino C, Shenhav L, Zhang AR, Shi P, Emmons A, Deel H, Xu ZZ, Nieciecki V, Zhu Q, Cantrell K, Ben-Hur A, Ree SC, Humphry GC, Ackermann G, McDonald D, Chan SHJ, Connor M, Boyd DA, Smith J, Watson J, Vidoli G, Steadman D, Lynne AM, Bucheli S, Carter DO, Burcham ZM, Knight R, Wrighton KC, Metcalf JL. CaDAVEr: a metagenome-assembled genome catalog of microbial decomposers across vertebrate environments. Microbiology Resource Announcements. 2025 Sep 23:e01323-24. https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/mra.01323-24 (2025)

Owings CG, McKee‐Zech HS, Patrick EA, Steadman DW. A blow fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) pre‐colonization interval dataset for improving forensic entomology estimations. Journal of Forensic Sciences 70(6):2393-2402. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.70150 (2025)

Nau AM, Ditto P, Steadman DW, Mockus A. Identifying factors that help improve existing decomposition‐based PMI estimation methods. Journal of Forensic Sciences 70:1249-1260. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.70046 (2025)

Snoeck C, Beasley MM, Steadman DW. Understanding intra-individual isotopic variability in modern cremated human remains for forensic and archaeological studies. PLOS ONE 20(4): e0320396. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0320396 (2025)

Passalacqua NV, Bartelink E, McQuade WEP, Steadman D, Boyd D, Spradley K, Sauerwein K, Ho R. The development of standards for the ethical use of human skeletal remains for education, research, and training in forensic anthropology. American Journal of Biological Anthropology Mar 2025 186(3): e70022 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.70022 (2025)

Connor M, Belcher WR, Dabbs GR, Falsetti A, Forbes SL, Gocha TP, Harris J, Hughes S, Listi G, Mavroudas S, Polonitza A, Reck SI, Steadman D, Ward J, Wescott DJ, Yim A, Zejdlik K. From a small plot in Knoxville to a worldwide footprint: An overview of human decomposition facilities. Forensic Anthropology 7(4): 267-281. (2024) https://doi.org/10.5744/fa.2024.0002 (2024)

Mason AR, McKee-Zech HS, Steadman DW, DeBruyn JM. Environmental predictors impact microbial-based postmortem interval (PMI) estimation models within human decomposition soils. PLoS ONE 19(10): e0311906. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0311906 (2024)

Taylor L, Mason AR, Noel H, Essington M, Davis M, Brown V, Steadman D, DeBruyn J. Transient hypoxia drives soil microbial community dynamics and biogeochemistry during human decomposition. FEMS Microbiology Ecology 100(10), p.fiae119. doi.org/10.1093/femsec/fiae119 (2024)

Farmer JG, Specht A, Punshon T, Jackson BP, Bidlack FB, Bakalar CA, Mukherjee R, Davis M, Steadman DW, Weisskopf MG. Lead exposure across the life course and age at death. Science of The Total Environment. Volume 927, 1 June 2024, 171975 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.171975 (2024)

Burcham ZM, Belk AD, McGivern BB, Bouslimani A, Ghadermazi P, Martino C, Shenhav L, Zhang AR, Shi P, Emmons A, Deel HL, Xu ZZ, Nieciecki V, Zhu O, Shaffer M, Panitchpakdi M, Weldon KC, Cantrell K, Ben-Hur A, Reed SC, Humphry GC, Ackermann G, McDonald D, Chan SHJ, Connor M, Boyd D, Smith J, Watson JMS, Vidoli G, Steadman D, Lynne AM, Bucheli S, Dorrestein PC, Wrighton KC, Carter DO, Knight R, Metcalf JL. A conserved interdomain microbial network underpins cadaver decomposition despite environmental variables. Nature Microbiology 9, 595–613. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41564-023-01580-y (2024)

Nau AM, Mousavi S, Lee D, Hossain R, Griffin T, Steadman DW, Mockus A. ICPUTRD: Image Cloud Platform for use in tagging and research on decomposition. Journal of Forensic Sciences. 69(5):1671-1680. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.15448 (2024)

Horbaly H, Hubbe M, Sylvester AD, Steadman DW, Auerbach BM. Variation in human limb joint articular morphology. American Journal of Biological Anthropology. 182(3):388-400. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24829 (2023)

Nau AM, Mockus A, Steadman DW. Stage of Decay Estimation Exploiting Exogenous and Endogenous Image Attributes to Minimize Manual Labeling Efforts and Maximize Classification Performance. 2023 IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP), 2705-2709. 10.1109/ICIP49359.2023.10222106 (2023)

Taylor LS, Gonzalez A, Essington ME, Lenaghan SC, Stewart CN, Mundorff AZ, Steadman DW, DeBruyn JM. Soil elemental changes during human decomposition. PLOS ONE 18(6): e0287094. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287094 (2023)

Specht AJ, Steadman DW, Davis M, Bartell SM, Weisskopf MG. Bone lead variability in bone repository skeletal samples measured with portable x-ray fluorescence. Science of The Total Environment. 2023 Mar 29:163197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163197 (2023)

Redeker Hepner T, Steadman DW. Bedeviling binaries: an integrated and dialectical approach to forensic anthropology in northern Uganda. In: RC Parra & DH Ubeaker, eds. Anthropology of Violent Death: Theoretical Foundations for Forensic Humanitarian Action. pp 327-50. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119806394.ch16 (2023)

Nienaber C, Forbes SL, Connor M, Wescott DJ, Ward J, Steadman DW, Colman KL. 2023. Forensic Taphonomy. In: MH Houck, ed. Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences, Third edition. Elsevier LTD. pp 700-711. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-823677-2.00040-4 (2023)

Mason AR, McKee-Zech HS, Hoeland KM, Davis MC, Campagna SR, Steadman DW, DeBruyn JM. Body Mass Index (BMI) Impacts Soil Chemical and Microbial Response to Human Decomposition. Msphere, 7(5), pp.e00325-22. DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00325-22 (2022)

Owings CG, McKee-Zech HS, Schwing ST, Bugajski KN, Davis MC, Steadman DW. Not by the Book: Observations of Delayed Oviposition and Re-Colonization of Human Remains by Blow Flies. Insects. 2022; 13(10):879-892. https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13100879 (2022)

Mousavi S, Yang Z, Cross K, Steadman DW, Mockus A. SLRNet: Semi-Supervised Semantic Segmentation Via Label Reuse for Human Decomposition Images. arXiv preprint arXiv:2202.11900. 2022 Feb 24. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2202.11900 (2022)

Winburn A, Jennings A, Steadman DW, DiGangi E. Ancestral diversity in skeletal collections: perspectives on African American body donation. Forensic Anthropology 5(2):141-152. DOI: 10.5744/fa.2020.1023 (2022)

Saul TB, Chesson LA, Steadman DW, Gordon GW. Considerations for stable isotope analysis of human hair: the impact of postmortem environmental exposure. Forensic Anthropology 4(3): 35-47. DOI: 10.5744/fa.2020.0052 (2021)

Hlad M, Veselka B, Steadman DW, Herregods B, Elskens M, Annaert R, Boudin M, Capuzzo G, Dalle S, De Mulder G, Sabaux C, Salesse K, Sengelov A, Stamataki E, Vercauteren M, Warmenbol E, Tys D, Snoeck C. Revisiting metric sex estimation of burnt human remains via supervised learning using a reference collection of modern identified cremated individuals (Knoxville, USA). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 175(4):777-793. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24270 (2021)

Owings C, Mckee-Zech H, Steadman DW. First record of the oriental latrine fly, Chrysomya megacephala (Fabricius) (Diptera: Calliphoridae), in Tennessee, USA. Acta Parasitologica, 66(3), 1079-1081. PMID 33682073. DOI: 10.1007/s11686-021-00346-y (2021)

Veselka B, Hlad M, Steadman DW, Annaert H, Boudin M, Capuzzo G, Dalle S, Kontopoulos I, De Mulder G, Sabaux C, Salesse K. Estimating age‐at‐death in burnt adult human remains using the Falys–Prangle method. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 175(1):128-136. DOI: 10/1002/ajpa.24210 (2021)

Mousavi S, Lee D, Griffin T, Cross K, Steadman DW, Mockus A. SChISM: Semantic Clustering via Image Sequence Merging for Images of Human-Decomposition. In Proceedings of the IEEE/CVF Winter Conference on Applications of Computer Vision, pp. 2190-2199. (2021)

DeBruyn JM, Hoeland KM, Taylor LS, Stevens JD, Moats MA, Bandopadhyay S, Dearth SP, Castro HF, Hewitt KK, Campagna SR, Dautartas AM, Vidoli GM, Mundorff AZ, Steadman DW. Comparative decomposition of humans and pigs: Soil biogeochemistry, microbial activity and metabolomic profiles. Frontiers in Microbiology, 11, 3521. PMID 33519758 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.608856 (2021)

Mousavi S, Yang Z, Cross K, Steadman DW, Mockus A. Pseudo pixel-level labeling for images with evolving content. arXiv:2105.09975. (2021)

Cobb CR, Steadman DW. Warfare and structural violence in Mississippian-Period Southeastern North America. In: Pearls, Politics and Pistachios. Essays in Anthropology and Memories on the Occasion of Susan Pollock’s 65th Birthday. Berlin: Ex Oriente Publishers. pp 381-393. (2021)

Steadman DW, Wagner S. Taking stock: DNA testing and its complex truths. In: H. Erlich, E. Stover & T.J. White, eds. Silent Witness: Forensic DNA Analysis in Criminal Investigations and Humanitarian Disasters. New York: Oxford University Press. pp 268-287. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190909444.001.0001 (2020)

Brazabon H, DeBruyn JM, Lenaghan SC, Li F, Mundorff AZ, Steadman DW, Stewart Jr. CS. Plants to remotely detect human decomposition? Trends in Plant Science 25(10), 947-949. PMID 32893124 DOI: 10.1016/J.Tplants.2020.07.013 (2020)

Donfack J, Moini M, Carlson TL, Allred BM, Otterstatter LM, Steadman DW, Jantz LM, Hauther K, Eckenrode BA. Proteomic analysis of decedent scalp hair segments exhibiting a postmortem hair root band. Forensic Chemistry Vol 18:100226. DOI: 10.1016/J.Forc.2020.100226 (2020)

Turingan RS, Brown J, Kaplun L, Smith J, Watson J, Boyd DA, Steadman DW, Selden RF. Identification of human remains using Rapid DNA analysis. International Journal of Legal Medicine 134:863-872. PMID 31781850 DOI: 10.1007/S00414-019-02186-Y (2020)

Vidoli GM, Beasley MM, Jantz LM, Devlin JB, Steadman DW. The future of taphonomic research. In: Hayman and Jarvis, eds. Estimation of the Time Since Death: Current Research and Future Trends. London: Academic Press. pp. 251-268. (2020)

Mousavi S, Lee D, Griffin T, Steadman DW, Mockus A. Collaborative learning of semi-supervised clustering and classification for labeling uncurated data. IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP) pp. 1716-1720. DOI: 10.1109/ICIP40778.2020.9191300 (2020)

Mousavi S, Lee D, Griffin T, Steadman DW, Mockus A. An analytical workflow for clustering forensic images. arXiv preprint arXiv:2001.05845, Proceedings of the Aaai Conference on Artificial Intelligence 34:13879-13880. DOI: 10.1609/aaai.v34i10.7212 (2019)

Langley N, Wood P, Herring P, Steadman DW. Forensic postmortem interval estimation from skeletal muscle tissue: A lipidomics approach. Forensic Anthropology 2(3):152-157. DOI: 10.5744/Fa.2019.1011 (2019)

Cornett D, Bolme D, Steadman DW, Sauerwein KA, Saul TB. Effects of postmortem decomposition on face recognition. United States. IEEE International Conference on Biometrics: Theory, Applications and Systems (BTAS 2019) pp 1-8. DOI: 10.1109/BTAS46853.2019.9185971 (2019)

Steadman DW. Demography and Pathology at Monjukli Depe, Turkmenistan. In: Looking Closely. Excavations at Monjukli Depe, Turkmenistan, 2010-2014, Vol 2. Susan Pollock, Reinhard Bernbeck and Birgül Ögü, eds. Leiden, The Netherlands: Sidestone Press. pp265-288. (2019)

Mousavi S, Nabati R, Kleeschulte M, Steadman DW, Mockus A. Machine-assisted annotation of forensic imagery. IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP 2019), pp. 1595-1599. DOI: 10.1109/ICIP.2019.8803068 (2019)

Horbaly HE, Kenyhercz MW, Hubbe M, Steadman, DW. The influence of body size on the expression of sexually dimorphic morphological traits. Journal of Forensic Sciences 64(1):52-57. PMID 29975982 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13850 (2019)

Steadman DW. Bodies of Evidence: The Body-as-Evidence Paradigm in Domestic and International Forensic Anthropology. In: Bioarchaeologists Speak Out – Deep Time Perspectives on Contemporary Issues. Jane Buikstra, ed. New York: Springer. pp 243-255. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-93012-1_11 (2019)

Milner GR, Boldsen JL, Ousley SD, Getz SM, Weise S, Tarp P, Steadman DW. Selective mortality in middle-aged American women with Diffuse Idiopathic Skeletal Hyperostosis (DISH). PLoS ONE 13(8): e0202283. PMID 30153267 DOI: 10.1371/Journal.Pone.0202283 (2018)

Soto CF, Algee-Hewitt BFB, Morante GB, Slice DE, Steadman DW. Age-at-death estimation for modern populations in Mexico and Puerto Rico through the use of 3D laser scans of the pubic symphysis. Human Biology 90(3): 213-229. PMID 33947176 DOI: 10.13110/humanbiology.90.3.02 (2018)

Gordon GW, Saul TB, Steadman DW, Wescott DJ, Knudson K. Preservation of hair stable isotope signatures during freezing and law enforcement evidence packaging. Forensic Chemistry 11:108-119. DOI: 10.1016/J.Forc.2018.10.004 (2018)

Redeker-Hepner T, Steadman DW, Hanebrink JR. Sowing the dead: Massacres and the missing in Northern Uganda. In: Cheryl Anderson and Debra Martin, eds. Massacres: Bioarchaeological and Forensic Anthropology Approaches. Gainesville: University of Florida Press. pp136-154. https://muse.jhu.edu/book/62728 (2018)

Steadman DW. Who Needs Data? I’ve Got Experience! Human Biology 90(1):77-82. PMID 30387385 DOI: 10.13110/Humanbiology.90.1.05 (2018)

Damaso N, Jones KF, Carlson TL, Fleming J, Steadman DW, Jantz LM, Hauther K, Otterslatter LM, Donfack J. A study of the intrinsic variability and the effect of environmental conditions on the formation of a postmortem root band. Forensic Science International 293:63-69. PMID 30399603 DOI: 10.1016/J.Forsciint.2018.09.032 (2018)

Dawnay N, Flamson R, Hall MJR, Steadman DW. Impact of sample degradation and inhibition on field-based DNA identification of human remains. Forensic Science International: Genetics 37:46-53. PMID 30077890 DOI: 10.1016/J.Fsigen.2018.07.018 (2018)

Wescott DJ, Steadman DW, Miller N, Sauerwein KA, Clemmons CM, Gleiber DS, McDaneld C, Meckel L, Bytheway JA. Validation of the total body score/accumulated degree-day model at three human decomposition facilities. Forensic Anthropology Vol 1(3):143-149. DOI: 10.5744/Fa.2018.0015 (2018)

Steadman DW, Dautartas A, Kenyhercz MW, Jantz LM, Mundorff AZ, Vidoli GM. Differential scavenging among pig, rabbit and human subjects. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 63(6):1684-1691. PMID 29649349 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13786 (2018)

Dautartas A, Kenyhercz MW, Vidoli GM, Jantz LM, Mundorff AZ, Steadman DW. Differential decomposition among pig, rabbit and human subjects. Journal of Forensic Sciences 63(6):1673-1683. PMID 29603225 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13784 (2018)

Adserias-Garriga J, Hernandez M, Quijada NM, Lázaro DR, Steadman DW, Garcia‐Gil LJ. Daily thanatomicrobiome changes in soil as an approach of postmortem interval estimation: An ecological perspective. Forensic Science International. 278:388-395. PMID 28818754 DOI: 10.1016/J.Forsciint.2017.07.017 (2017)

Adserias-Garriga J, Quijada NM, Hernandez M, Lázaro DR, Steadman DW, Garcia‐Gil LJ. Dynamics of the oral microbiota as a tool to estimate time since death. Molecular Oral Microbiology. 32:511-516. PMID 28654195 DOI: 10.1111/Omi.12191 (2017)

Vidoli GM, Steadman DW, Devlin J, Jantz LM. History and development of the first Anthropology Research Facility, Knoxville, Tennessee. In Taphonomy of Human Remains: Forensic Analysis of the Dead and the Depositional Environment. Editors: Schotsmans EMJ, Marquez-Grant N, Forbes SL. West Sussex, UK: Wiley. pp 463-474. DOI: 10.1002/9781118953358.ch35 (2017)

Sauerwein K, Saul TB, Steadman DW, Boehnen CB. The effects of decomposition on the efficacy of biometrics for positive identification. Journal of Forensic Sciences 62(6):1599-1602. PMID 28240354 DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.13484 (2017)

Steadman DW, Basler W, Hochrein MJ, Klein DF, Goodin JC. Investigative and legal aspects of a U.S. federal death penalty case. In The Handbook of Forensic Anthropology and Archaeology, 2nd ed. edited by Soren Blau and Douglas Ubelaker. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press. pp 447-462. DOI: 10.4324/9781315528939 (2016)

Bolme DS, Tokola RA, Boehnen CB, Saul TB, Sauerwein KA, Steadman DW. Impact of environmental factors on biometric matching during human decomposition. 2016 IEEE 8th International Conference on Biometrics Theory, Applications and Systems (BTAS), pp. 1-8. DOI: 10.1109/BTAS.2016.7791177 (2016)

Selected Research Grants (2014-2026)

2025-2026, West Virginia University Biometrics Center of Excellence. D.W. Steadman. “Longitudinal Study of the Postmortem Variability of Biometric Indicators” PVB2025. $287,863.

2025, Mae Foundation. Dawnie Wolfe Steadman and Shawn Campagna. “The volatile organic compounds of residual odor.” $100,000.” 

2024-2026, National Science Foundation. George Perry, Mark Hubbe, Collen Cheverko, Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. NSF #2341331.  “Collaborative Research: Development and application of a robust method for age estimation from human bone using DNA methylation markers.”  $597,803 total ($21,547 UTK)

2024-2025, West Virginia University Biometrics Center of Excellence. D.W. Steadman. “Longitudinal Study of the Postmortem Variability of Biometric Indicators” PVB2024. $282,671

2023-2025, National Institute of Justice, Basic Scientific Research to Support Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes. Dawnie Wolfe Steadman, Mary Cablk, James Ha, Shawn Campagna. 15PNIJ-22-GG-04412-SLFO “Application of Analytical Chemistry to Test the Accuracy of Human Residual Odor Detection by Cadaver Dogs.” $395,516.

2023-2024, West Virginia University Biometrics Center of Excellence. D.W. Steadman. “Longitudinal Study of the Postmortem Variability of Biometric Indicators PVB2023.” $269,652.

2022-2023, West Virginia University Biometrics Center of Excellence. D.W. Steadman. “Longitudinal Study of the Postmortem Variability of Biometric Indicators PVB2022.” $229,070.

2022-2023, Student Faculty Research Award (SFRA), University of Tennessee. Caroline Znachko and Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. “Correlating Epigenetic Markers of Stress from Human Blood and Bone with Skeletal Manifestations of Stress.” $4676.

2022-2024, National Institute of Justice, Basic Scientific Research to Support Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes. Audris Mockus and Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. 15PNIJ-21-GG-04161-SLFO “Deep Learning Methods for Postmortem Interval Estimation.” $406,468.

2021-2022, West Virginia University Biometrics Center of Excellence. D.W. Steadman. “Longitudinal Study of the Postmortem Variability of Biometric Indicators PVB2021.” $226,765.

2020-2021, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). C. Neal Stewart, Scott Lenaghan, Jennifer DeBruyn, Amy Mundorff, Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. “SPOT: Signatures in Plants Over Targets.” $930,231.

2020-2021, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Dawnie Wolfe Steadman, Giovanna Vidoli. “Efficacy and Durability of the Better Body Bag: Outdoor Longitudinal Testing at the Anthropology Research Facility.” $59,805

2021-2021, School for Advanced Research (SAR). Tricia Hepner and Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. “Restless Spirits and Human Remains: Life, Death and Social Justice in Post-War Northern Uganda.” Workshop September 27 – October 1, 2021.

2020-2021, West Virginia University Biometrics Center of Excellence. Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. “Longitudinal Study of the Postmortem Variability of Biometric Indicators PVB 2020.” $209,878.

2020–2021, Student Faculty Research Award (SFRA), University of Tennessee. Hayden McKee-Zech and Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. “Assessing the impacts of end-of-life prescription medications on blow fly larval development.”  $4923

2020–2021, Student Faculty Research Award (SFRA), University of Tennessee. Karli Palmer and Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. “Gaining insight into fluvial transport by tracking an artificial drowning victim.”  $3309

2019-2021, National Institute of Justice, Basic Scientific Research to Support Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes. Dawnie W. Steadman, Jennifer DeBruyn, Shawn Campagna. DOJ-NIJ-2018-DU-BX-0180. “The Impact of Drugs on Human Decomposition and the Postmortem Interval: Insect, Scavenger and Microbial Evidence.” $726,629.

2019-2021, National Institute of Justice, Basic Scientific Research to Support Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes. Audris Mockus and Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. DOJ-NIJ- 2018-DU-BX-0181 “Automation-Supported Curation of Large Forensic Image Databases.” $354,751.

2019-2020, West Virginia University Biometrics Center of Excellence. Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. “Longitudinal Study of the Postmortem Variability of Biometric Indicators PVB 2019.” $188,653.

2019, Forensic Science Foundation, American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Lucas Grant. Armando Anzellini and Dawnie Wolfe Steadman. “Exploring intra-skeletal variation in stable isotope analysis through non-destructive approaches: Applications of the patterns of skeletal remodeling to forensic contexts.” $4410.

2018-2019, West Virginia University Biometrics Center of Excellence. D.W. Steadman. “Longitudinal Study of the Postmortem Variability of Biometric Indicators PVB 2018.” $189,317.

2017-2018, West Virginia University Biometrics Center of Excellence. D.W. Steadman. “Longitudinal Study of the Postmortem Variability of Biometric Indicators.” $231,830.

2017-2019, National Institute of Justice, Basic Scientific Research to Support Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes. Audris Mockus and D. W. Steadman. DOJ-NIJ 2016-DN-BX-0179.  “ICPUTRD: Image Cloud Platform for use in Tagging and Research on Decomposition.” $327,372.

2017-2020, Department of Defense. D.W. Steadman. “Biometric Variability During Decomposition.” $450,000.

2017-2018, University of Tennessee Faculty/Student Research Awards. T. Hepner and D.W. Steadman. “Spirits of the Dead and Transitional Justice in Northern Uganda.” $4900.

2016-2018, National Institute of Justice, Basic Scientific Research to Support Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes. M. Kenyhercz, G. Vidoli and D.W. Steadman. DOJ-NIJ 2015-DN-BX-K019. “Expanding Total Body Score with Geographic Information Systems.” $250,024.

2015-2016, Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office/Technical Support Working Group. C. Boehnen, D. Bolme and D.W. Steadman. “Biometric Viability During Human Decomposition.” $100,000.

2015-2017, National Institute of Justice, Applied Scientific Research to Support Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes. G. Gordon, K. Knudson, A.D. Anbar, and D. Steadman. DOJ-NIJ 2014-DN-BX-K002. “Isotopic Taphonomy of Human Remains.”  $462,226.

2015-2017, NetBio, Inc. D. Steadman. “Advancement of Rapid DNA Technology on Human Remains.” $48,216

2015-2017, National Institute of Justice, Applied Scientific Research to Support Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes. N. Shirley, P. Wood, D. Steadman and D. Mileusnic. DOJ-NIJ 2014-DN-BX-K010. “Postmortem interval determination: A metabolomics/lipidomics approach.”  $193,079.

2015-2017, National Institute of Justice, Applied Research and Development in Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes. J. Bytheway, D. Steadman and D. Wescott. DOJ-NIJ 2014-DN-BX-K009. “Validation Study of the Utility of Using Total Body Score and Accumulated Degree Days to Determine the Post-Mortem Interval of Human Remains from Three Human Decomposition Research Facilities.”

2015, Southeastern Conference (SEC) Visiting Faculty Travel Grant. Faculty visit and lecture at the University of Florida.  $1000.

2014, National Institute of Justice, Graduate Research Fellowship Program in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics with Sean Tallman.  DOJ-NIJ 2014-DN-BX-0002. “The Evaluation and Refinement of Nonmetric Sex and Ancestry Assessment Methods in Japanese and Thai Individuals.” $16,490.

2014-2016, National Institute of Justice, Basic Scientific Research to Support Forensic Science for Criminal Justice Purposes.  D. Steadman, G. Vidoli, L. Jantz, J. DeBruyn, S. Schaeffer, and R. Williams. 2013-DN-BX-K037. “A Multidisciplinary Validation Study of Non-human Animal Models for Forensic Decomposition Research.” $226,382.