Katrin Koel Abt

Prof., Biological Sciences
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KatrinKoel Abt
Email: Katrin.Koel-Abt@fsw.edu
Phone: (239) 489-9262
Extension: 11262
Location: HENDRY/GLADES B-103
Office Hours: Please see syllabus for each course.
Department:

Biography

Dr. Katrin Koel-Abt is a highly skilled and passionate forensic anthropologist and previous death investigator with a PhD in Biology/Anthropology, and nearly two decades of experience working in the academic and forensic sectors, collaborating with governments, military affairs, and law enforcement agencies. Dr. Koel-Abt was recruited by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in 2012 because of her expertise in bone histomorphology. During her tenure from 2012-2107, she served as a forensic anthropologist, lead of the histology section, and alternate DNA and evidence coordinator in the field and laboratory with experience in Germany and Belgium. In collaboration with the U.S. Army, Dr. Koel-Abt developed a research project on tooth increment analysis for accurate age at time of death and season at time of death estimation for categorically “unaccounted” service members. This project won the Annual James W. Bass Research Award honoring remarkable research projects from the Department of Clinical Investigation at Tripler Army Medical Center, Hawaii, in 2017. In 2014, Dr. Koel-Abt deployed to Vietnam to train medical staff of the PAVN Institute in Hanoi in bone histomorphology. Prior to her assignment with DPAA, Dr. Koel-Abt worked as lead forensic anthropologist at the Charite Medical Center in Berlin, Germany, to identify and repatriate human remains as a result of potential war crimes from Germany’s Colonial era. Dr. Koel-Abt has over two decades of experience in biological anthropology, bone pathology and bone histomorphology. Dr. Koel-Abt also serves as an independent on-call recovery expert, is on the editorial board of two international scientific journals and does reviews for peer-reviewed international scientific journals.

Education (Degrees and Certifications)

PhD, Biology / Physical Anthropology

Research (Publications, Presentations, and Other Projects)

Koel-Abt, K / Wilson, ND (2022): The Analysis of Tooth Cementum for the Histological Determination of Age and Season at Death on Teeth of US Active Duty Military Members, in: Naji, S / Gourichon, L / Rendu, W: Tooth Cementum Analysis, Cambridge University Press, p. 226-233

Mann, R.W / Koel-Abt, K. / Dhody, A. / Mahakkanukrauh, P. / Mann, V.J. / Ruengdit, S. / Techataweewan, N. (2021): The Importance of Human Osteological Collections: Our Past, Present and Future. Forensic Science International. 2021; Vol. 325

Naji, S / Koel-Abt, K. (2017): Cementochronology - The Still Underestimated Old "New" Method for Age-At-Death Assessment. J Forensic Sci & Criminal Inves. 2017; 4(1): 555-630.

Glaubrecht, M. / Seethaler, N. / Tessman, B. / Koel-Abt, K. (2013): „Rediscovering Adelbert von Chamisso’s skull of an Aleut collected during the “Rurik” Expedition 1815-1818 in Alaska”. Zoosyst Evol 89(2) 2013, 317-336.

Koel-Abt, K. / Winkelmann, A. (2013): „The identification and restitution of human remains from an Aché girl named "Damiana": an interdisciplinary approach”. Annals of Anatomy 195 (2013), 393-400.

Courses (Classes Taught Regularly)

BSC 1005 BSC 1010 BSC 1010L BSC 1011 BSC 1011L BSC 1085C BSC 1086C EVR1001C