Rate My Professor Jade De La Paz

Dr Jade De La Paz is a Professional Practice Fellow and Professional Forensic Anthropologist in the Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, at the University of Otago. She holds a BA (Hons), an MS in Forensic Anthropology from Boston University (2013), and a PhD from the University of Otago (2022) titled 'The relationship between soft tissue anatomy and skeletal sexual dimorphism in the cranium and clavicle: An anatomical approach to sex estimation in anthropology.' With 15 years of experience in training, casework, teaching, and research, her career includes work at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), and multiple US medical examiner’s offices, contributing to approximately 400 forensic cases, including over 200 identifications of unidentified US service members and 185 direct consultations in New Zealand and the US. Since moving to New Zealand in 2018, she has consulted with New Zealand police, coroners, and forensic pathologists.

Dr De La Paz specializes in forensic anthropology with focuses on skeletal gunshot trauma, biological profile estimation, mass disaster recovery training, taphonomy, sex estimation, parturition markers, and fetal skeletal remains recovery. Key publications include 'Skeletal indicators of pregnancy and parturition: a historical review' (Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2012), 'Recovery rates of human fetal skeletal remains using varying mesh sizes' (Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2016), 'Architecture of head and neck soft tissues and associated entheses' (Journal of Anatomy, 2023), and 'A review of the anatomy of soft tissues associated with sexually dimorphic landmarks on the cranium' (Anatomy, 2022). She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Anthropology Section, the only such Fellow in New Zealand, and serves as Secretary on the Executive Board of the Australian and New Zealand Forensic Science Society (ANZFSS). As a voting member of the AAFS Standards Board Anthropology Consensus Body, she contributed to Skeletal Trauma Standards (2024), Sex Estimation Best Practices, and Forensic Anthropology Education Standards. At Otago, she teaches forensic anthropology, biological anthropology, bioarchaeology, and forensic sciences, creates mock crime scenes for students, leads virtual reality forensic training projects with the International Committee of the Red Cross, and serves on the Department of Anatomy Equity, Diversity, and Belonging Committee.