Biography
Dr. Frankie West is an Assistant Professor of Forensic Science at Western Carolina
University. She is also the Forensic Science Program Director.<br>A National Geographic
Explorer, West recently worked on expeditions to find Amelia Earhart and on DNA analysis
for the slave ship Clotilda. A broadly trained biological anthropologist with a focus
on degraded DNA analysis, she has conducted fieldwork globally. West has published
on both forensic DNA and ancient DNA research, including articles in Forensic Science
International: Synergy and Human Biology, among others. She is interested in uses
of DNA analysis in human identification, nondestructive DNA analysis, DNA analysis
of soil, and ancestry and population genetics approaches to both ancient and forensic
DNA. West holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with a focus on
molecular anthropology and degraded DNA analysis.
Teaching Interests
Forensic Biology FS/BIOL 422/522<br>Population Genetics for Forensic Science FS/BIOL
330<br>Physical Methods in Forensic Science FS 466<br>Survey of Forensic Science FS
293<br>Human Genetic Variation FS/BIOL 493<br>Advanced Forensic Biology
Research Interests
Forensic biology, forensic genetics, genetics of ancestry estimation, molecular anthropology,
ancient DNA, degraded DNA analysis
