Samuel Rennie

Dr Samuel Rennie

  • Senior Lecturer in Forensic Investigation
  • Christchurch House C106, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB
UN SDGs:
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Biography

Samuel Rennie is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Investigation in the Department of Life and Environmental Sciences at Bournemouth University.

He is a Biological and Forensic Anthropologist with interests in both Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) and Palaeomigration of the Americas. He completed his PhD in Biological/Physical Anthropology in 2018 at Liverpool John Moores University where he focussed on sex determination of skeletal remains using multivariate statistics and their effects on population specific standards.

Sam has worked as a forensic anthropologist and search and recovery specialist in DVI incidents on an international platform. He is a certified Forensic Anthropologist (FA-III) in the UK and a member of the UK - DVI Forensic Anthropology Cadre.

The other side of his research is biostatistics, or more precisely the application of multivariate analysis and how they can be used within biological anthropology and other fields of research.

Research

Current research areas:

1) Validating methods used for biological profiling within forensic anthropology

2) 2D/3D Geometric Morphometric Analysis

3) Palaeomigration of the Americas

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person's work contributes towards the following SDG:

Peace, justice and strong institutions

"Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels"

more information

Journal Articles

  • Rennie, S.R., Eliopoulos, C. and Gonzalez, S., 2023. Evaluation of the obturator foramen as a sex assessment trait. Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology, 19 (2), 146-153.
  • Stinnesbeck, W. et al., 2020. New evidence for an early settlement of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico: The Chan Hol 3 woman and her meaning for the Peopling of the Americas. PLoS ONE, 15 (2).
  • Irish, L., Rennie, S., Parkes, G. and Williams, A., 2019. Identification of decomposition volatile organic compounds from surface deposited and submerged porcine remains. Science & Justice.

Reports

  • Sikalas, M., Rennie, S. and Paul, R., 2024. Current and future strategies for Currency Detection Dogs and their implications to international policy. Home Office (UK).
  • Gonzalez, S. and Rennie, S., 2024. Geochemical Analysis of Soils and Medieval Skeletons from Norton Priory, UK.. Norton Priory, UK.

Posters

  • Rennie, S., 2024. MRI of the Costochondral Junction: A potential method for age estimation in the living. In: British Association for Human Identification.
  • Rennie, S.R., Gonzalez, S. and Johnson, J., 2019. Tracking early human migrations through the Americas. In: American Association for Physical Anthropology.

PhD Students

  • Victoria Claydon. Evaluation of post mortem changes of skeletal remains and their correlation to DNA viability of Forensic Casework., (In progress)

Profile of Teaching PG

  • Principles and Methods in Human Osteology (Teaching Team)

Profile of Teaching UG

  • International Investigations (Unit Lead)
  • Functional Anatomy (Unit Lead)
  • Forensic Research Project (Teaching Team)
  • Professional Laboratory Practice (Teaching Team)
  • Forensic Biology (Teaching Team)
  • Principles in Biological Anthropology (Teaching Team)

Grants

  • Headspace profiling of illicit drugs (Home Office, 24 Oct 2024). In Progress
  • Current and future strategies for Currency Detection Dogs and their implications to international policy (Home Office, 01 May 2023). Completed
  • eDNA sampling for the rewilding of the River Severn (Canal and River Trust, 26 Sep 2022). Completed
  • Ancient Migrations through the "Mesoamerican Corridor" (ACORN, 01 Feb 2022). Completed

External Responsibilities

  • Coventry University, External Examiner - BSc Forensic Science (2023-2027)

Internal Responsibilities

  • Radiation Protection Supervisor, Faculty of Science and Technology, BU
  • Programme Leader, BSc (hons) Forensic Biology
  • Member, Human Osteology Team

Public Engagement & Outreach Activities

  • Surveying techniques for forensic anthropology - British Association for Forensic Anthropology
  • Ancestry Estimation: Considerations for using Ancestry Estimation Software - British Association for Forensic Anthropology
  • Ixchel (Chan Hol III): Her meaning to the Peopling of the Americas - Bournemouth Natural Science Society
  • The Ixchel skeleton and the mystery of America’s early settlers - Café Scientifique (Bournemouth)

Conference Presentations

  • UK Archaeological Sciences (UKAS), Paget´s Disease of Bone: Insights from the study of Medieval Skeletons in the UK, 03 Apr 2024, York
  • Society for American Archaeology, Paleoindians from Mexico: What do they tell us about the early peopling of the Americas?, 29 Mar 2023, Portland, Oregon
  • American Association of Physical Anthropology, Cranial Morphological Variation in the Americas: Where does Mexico fit in?, 11 Apr 2018, Austin, Texas, USA
  • American Association of Physical Anthropology, A Preliminary Analysis on the Cranial Variation within Prehistoric Mexico, 19 Apr 2017, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
  • American Association of Physical Anthropology, Geographic and temporal variation in morphological sexing traits of the pelvis, 13 Apr 2016, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
  • American Academy of Forensic Science, A new statistical approach to morphological sexing of South African remains, 24 Feb 2016, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Consultancy Activities

  • International Response Team Member, Disaster Response. Blakes Emergency Services

Qualifications

  • PhD in Biological/Physical Anthropology (Liverpool John Moores University, 2018)
  • BSc (Hons) in Forensic Anthropology (Liverpool John Moores University, 2012)

Honours

  • Forensic Anthropologist (Cert FA-III) (Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), 2021)

Memberships

  • Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences, Member (2021-),
  • British Association for Forensic Anthropology, Member,
  • British Association for Human Identification, Member,
  • Royal Anthropological Institute, Fellow,

External Media and Press