Keith Chan

Bioarchaeology, forensic anthropology, Peruvian prehistory and contact, disease, statistics, anthropometry

Ph.D. candidate (Anthropology)
University of Missouri, Columbia

2001-2003

M.A. (Anthropology)
University of Missouri, Columbia
Thesis Title: An Examination of Harris Lines and Femoral Diaphyseal Bending Rigidity Using Bootstrapping

1997-2001

B.A. (Anthropology)
University of California, Berkeley

2003-2007

Life Sciences Fellow at the University of Missouri, Columbia. This four year fellowship provides its fellows with preparation for earning a PhD and stresses interaction, networking, and ethical scientific research

2005-

Society for American Archaeology, Student Member

2003-

Sigma Xi, Associate Member

2003-

American Association of Physical Anthropology, Student Member

2007

Co-Teacher. Bioarchaeological field school in Lima,  Peru via the University of Missouri, Columbia. Co-taught four students from the United States and one from Peru the methodology of skeletal identification and data collection. Duties include assisting in identifying and collecting skeletal data, helping students adjust to Peruvian culture, and managing interpersonal conflicts.

2005

Volunteer Teaching Assistant. Monkeys, Apes and Humans class, University of Missouri, Columbia. Acted as teaching assistant in undergraduate class. Duties include grading exams and assignments, proctoring the final exam unassisted, and two guest lectures.

2004

Volunteer Teaching Assistant. Human Skeletal Identification class, University of Missouri, Columbia. Co-taught a class on human osteology. Duties include answering questions regarding the identification and function of human bones during the lab portion and leading review sessions.

2004

Guest lecture series. Introduction to Physical Anthropology class, University of Missouri, Columbia. Gave three lectures covering classification and behavior of primates for a class of approximately eighty students.

2003

Volunteer Teaching Assistant. Human Skeletal Identification class, University of Missouri, Columbia. A guest lecture is given on my thesis research.

2002-2003

Library Research Assistant.  Anthropology library, University of Missouri, Columbia. Duties include maintaining the collection of publications in the anthropology library’s collection, managing a crew of student volunteers and holding a biannual book sale.

2007-

Skeletal data collection. Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología, e Historia del Peru. Collected data from skeletal remains from the Incan period site of Armatambo. Tasks include thorough examination of skeletons for indicators of sex, age, and disease processes, in addition to improving existing data collection forms.

2004

Archaeological excavation at Buena Vista, Peru.  University of Missouri, Columbia.  Expanded tasks from the previous field season include the education of a new crew of field students, acting as crew chief for a unit, and helping the students acculturate to Peruvian culture.

2003

Archaeological excavation at Buena Vista, Peru.  University of Missouri, Columbia.  Tasks include the preparation and excavation of units, collecting and organizing artifacts, and the production of plans, profiles, and artifact drawings.

2002

Forensics investigation.  University of Missouri, Columbia.  The laboratory’s standard procedure was followed to completion on a local forensics case.

2000-2001

Archaeological laboratory analysis. University of Missouri, Columbia.  Artifacts from the Museum Support Center were sorted and recataloged.

2001

Archaeological excavation at the Presidio, San Francisco.  University of California, Berkeley.  Tasks include the excavation of units and the wetscreening of soil for artifacts.

2007

Curso Taller: Arqueometría y Bioarqueología en el Perú. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos. Created and delivered a presentation using Spanish. The talk focused on current work on the Armatambo skeletal collection curated by the Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Peru. Download (2.5MB, PowerPoint)

2007

Photography of Buena Vista site was featured in Mosaics, the annual magazine of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Download (4.4MB, pdf)

2006

Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A paper based on collaboration with Kathy Forgey from the University of Illinois-Chicago titled “A Possible Sacrificee for the Temple of the Fox at Buena Vista Perú” was presented at this conference.

2005

Life Sciences Week Poster Session. A poster based on the thesis work of Rebecca Bergfield from the University of Missouri-Columbia titled “Trace Element Analysis of Ancient Hair from Three Archaeological Sites in Peru” was presented at this event. Download (632KB, JPEG)

2004

Life Sciences Week Poster Session. A poster based on thesis research titled “Harris Lines and Cross Sectional Geometry at the Site of Paloma, Peru” was presented at this event. The author fielded questions for four hours over the course of a single day. Download (480KB, JPEG)

Computer Programmer. Created and publicly released a computer program (Anthropomotron 1.1) that expedites calculations used in forensic anthropology and bioarchaeology. Tasks included the research of these formulae, their implementation using the Xcode programming tool, and thorough testing for bugs. Anthropomotron was featured on a promotional CD of freeware and shareware programs bundled with the April 2005 issue of Macworld magazine.

2003

President of the Anthropology Students Association, University of Missouri, Columbia.  Duties include the hosting of biweekly member meetings, and the organization of several annual and biannual events, including faculty talks, trash pickup on a local hiking trail and a bake/book sale.