Education

•    Ph.D. in Biology (Forensic Science), North Carolina State University
•    MA in Bioarchaeology, North Carolina State University
•    BA in Anthropology, University of Mississippi
•    BS in Biology, University of Mississippi

Bio

Dr. Hale is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forensic Sciences at VCU. She is a forensic anthropologist, having recently left the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency at Hickam AFB in Hawaii, where she served as the lead for the Korean War Identification Project. Before becoming the KWIP project lead in 2025, she had provided support for the laboratory as an anthropologist and chest radiograph comparison analyst since 2019.  During her time there, she contributed to numerous identifications across the laboratory. She has numerous publications on research in bone mineral density applications, the validity of postmortem interval approaches when applied to infants and juveniles, and forensic approaches utilizing 3D data.  Dr. Hale is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and is board-certified as a Level II Forensic Anthropologist with the Forensic Anthropology Society of Europe.

Research Interests

•    Craniofacial variation
•    Method validation
•    Bone mineral density applications