Rate My Professor Anna-Claire Barker

Anna-Claire Barker is an Assistant Research Fellow in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Otago, where she completed a Bachelor of Arts in Archaeology, BA (Honours), and MSc in biological anthropology. While pursuing her BA in Archaeology, she discovered the potential of the human skeleton to reveal histories of past peoples, prompting her transition to biological anthropology. Her research centers on the mother-infant nexus, examining mother-child interconnectedness and how maternal and early-life health affect lifelong outcomes. In her Honours research, she investigated dental enamel defects in early-forming teeth, indicators of physiological stress during tooth development, providing insights into maternal, in-utero, and early-life health in past populations, including quantification of defects in a prehistoric Tongan sample. For her Master's research, she tested micro-CT imaging to study microbial bioerosion in bone, where microbes from the gut microbiome break down bone minerals after birth. She explored whether microbial bioerosion analysis could distinguish stillbirths from live births in skeletal populations, improving age-at-death estimations as infant mortality reflects maternal and population health.