Dr Lesciotto
Dr. Lesciotto’s research interests broadly focus on methods for estimating the biological profile from unknown skeletal remains and the intersection of forensic anthropology within the US legal system. Her MS thesis research utilized geometric morphometrics to explore face and palate shape, while her PhD dissertation research focused on using mice as a model organism to understand the development and integration of the brain and skull during prenatal and early postnatal growth. While completing her PhD, Dr. Lesciotto continued to conduct forensic anthropology research, focusing on methods of sex estimation using the skull and pelvis. Since joining SHSU, Dr. Lesciotto’s long term goals are to assist law enforcement agencies and medical examiners in the southeast Texas region, both through her research and by providing forensic anthropology consultations and training.
Current research projects and interests include:
- Development of novel, statistically based methods of sex estimation by combining trait data from multiple skeletal elements;
- Skeletal trauma resulting from fatal fire and explosives scenarios;
- Environmental influences on the process of soft tissue decomposition;
- Qualitative evaluations of court filings to examine the admissibility of forensic anthropology expert witness evidence; and
- Bibliometric surveys to understand trends in published forensic anthropology research.
Additionally, through the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr. Lesciotto supervises first- and second-year medical students performing research on soft tissue anatomy, including variant arterial pathways and variation in muscle attachment sites.
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Examining human bones in the field prior to skeletal research.
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Demonstrating bony features on the human skeleton that are commonly used for forensic anthropology research.
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Team performing fieldwork and recovery.
Selected Publications:
2021 Klales AR, Garvin H, Gocha T, Lesciotto KM, Walls M. Examining reliability of popular morphological sex estimation methods. Forensic Anthropology 3:139-150. http://journals.upress.ufl.edu/fa/article/view/1393
2018 Lesciotto KM and Doershuk LJ. Effect of age on nonmetric cranial traits in adults. Forensic Anthropology 1(3):150-159. https://doi.org/10.5744/fa.2018.0016
2018 Lesciotto KM and Doershuk LJ. Accuracy and reliability of the Klales et al. (2012) morphoscopic pelvic sexing method. Journal of Forensic Sciences 63(1):214-220. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.13501
2016 Lesciotto KM, Cabo LL, Garvin HM. A morphometric analysis of prognathism and evaluation of the gnathic index in modern humans. HOMO – Journal of Comparative Human Biology 67(4):294-312. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jchb.2016.04.006
2015 Lesciotto KM. The impact of Daubert on the admissibility of forensic anthropology expert testimony. Journal of Forensic Sciences 60(3):549-555. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.12740
Selected Presentations:
2022 Lesciotto KM. Daubert: Lip service or substantive change in forensic anthropology? Oral presentation for the AAFS Anthropology Section 50th Anniversary Symposium at the 74th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Seattle, WA.
2021 Kiely J, Lesciotto KM, Hughes S. A survey of skeletal trauma within the Southeast Texas Applied Forensic Science collection; a wealth of research opportunity. Poster presentation for the 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Virtual Meeting.
2018 Walls M, Klales AR, Lesciotto KM, Gocha T, Garvin HM. Reliability and validity of the Walker (2008) and Klales et al. (2012) methods. Poster Presentation at the 70th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Seattle, WA.
2017 Lesciotto KM and Doershuk LJ. Effect of age on nonmetric cranial traits for sex estimation in subadults and adults. Poster Presentation at the 86th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, New Orleans, LA. Abstract published in American Journal of Physical Anthropology 162(S64):260.
2017 Lesciotto KM and Doershuk LJ. Accuracy and reliability of the Klales et al. (2012) nonmetric pelvic sexing method. Poster Presentation at the 69th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, New Orleans, LA.
2016 Lesciotto KM, Cabo LL, Garvin HM. The influence of sex and allometry on subnasal prognathism in modern humans. Poster Presentation at the 85th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Atlanta, GA. Abstract published in American Journal of Physical Anthropology 159(S62):207.
2016 Klales AR and Lesciotto KM. The “Science of Science”: examining bias in forensic anthropology. Podium Presentation at the 68th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Las Vegas, NV.
2015 Lesciotto KM and Garvin HM. A geometric morphometric approach to prognathism and the gnathic index. Poster Presentation at the 84th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, St. Louis, MO. Abstract published in American Journal of Physical Anthropology 156(S60):202.
2015 Lesciotto KM. The impact of Daubert on the admissibility of forensic anthropology expert testimony. Podium Presentation at the 67th Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, Orlando, FL.
2014 Lesciotto KM and Garvin HM. A morphometric analysis of prognathism and the gnathic index. Podium Presentation at the 1st Annual Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Bioanthropology Interest Group, Richmond, VA.
