Chris Stantis | Humanities and Social Sciences | SIU

A biological anthropologist with training in archaeology, anatomy, and chemistry, Dr Stantis focuses on analyzing bones and teeth to place people in their past environment. For archaeological work, her research focuses on methods and types of questions rather than a specific region, culture, or time period. In forensic anthropology, she focuses on methods improvement surrounding stable isotopes chemistry.

Dr Chris Stantis graduated with a Bachelor's in Anthropology from Auburn University (2009), and a Masters in Paleopathology from Durham University (2011). For her PhD studies in New Zealand (University of Otago), she analyzed Tongans and Fijians excavated from burial mounds and cemeteries to think about diet and movement in the past.

After far too many postdoctoral positions (Bournemouth University, Smithsonian, and University of Utah), she became an Assistant Professor at SIU Carbondale.

Dr Stantis is a big believer in open data in archaeology. It helps erode barriers to access in science, and does honor to the samples which had to be destroyed to generate information. Dr Stantis is a founding member of IsoArcH, a data repository and community for archaeological isotopic data, and also a champion for IsoBank, which wants to have isotopic data across all disciplines available.

Bluesky Social: /chrisstantis.bsky.social