Suzy White
Specialism
- Hominin evolution
- Geometric morphometric methods
- Craniofacial anatomy
Areas of interest
My primary research area is palaeoanthropology, with a particular emphasis on later Homo, taxonomy and systematics, and craniofacial anatomy. I am also interested in broader aspects of evolutionary anthropology, including comparative primate anatomy, curation of osteological collections, and palaeopathology, and I have a number of technical papers on geometric morphometric methods and virtual anthropology.Background
I completed my BSc in Evolutionary Anthropology at the University of Liverpool in 2012 where I focused my studies on the hominin fossil and archaeological record. After that, I went on to do an MSc in Skeletal and Dental Bioarchaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL. I later completed my PhD in Palaeoanthropology at the same institution, where I studied variation in the browridge of Middle Pleistocene hominins in a taxonomic context through the application of 3D geometric morphometric methods. Since being awarded my PhD, I have worked as a Teaching Fellow and Lecturer (Teaching) and Curator of Biological Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at UCL, where I taught a range of topics within biological anthropology and Palaeolithic archaeology at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. I am now a post-doctoral research assistant on a Leverhulme funded project within the University of Reading, where I am using craniofacial data to reconstruct the phylogenetic relationships between hominin fossils.Awards and honours
- AHRC London Arts and Humanities Partnership - Research Studentship (2014-2017)
- Unravelling the Palaeolithic Conference 2016 - Best Student Poster (2016)
- Institute of Archaeology (UCL) - Best Masters Dissertation (2014)
- Institute of Archaeology (UCL) - Kenyon Award (2013)
- University of Liverpool - Slater Prize for best performance in Archaeological Science (2011)
- University of Liverpool - Grant Prize for best performance in Archaeological Science (2010)
Selected publications
- Olsen, S.T., White, S. (In review). Facial Morphologies of Middle Pleistocene Europe: Implications for Middle Pleistocene Hominin Phylogeny and the Morphological Evolution of Homo neanderthalensis. Journal of Human Evolution
- White, S., Menéndez, L (2023). Social Complexity and the Cranium. In Hirst, C.S., Gilmour, R.J., Plomp, K.A., Cardoso, F.A. (Eds.) Behaviour in our Bones. Elsevier: London, pp. 39-72
- White, S., Soligo, C., Pope, M., Hillson, S. (2022). Geometric morphometric variability in the supraorbital and orbital region of Middle Pleistocene hominins: Implications for the taxonomy and evolution of later Homo. Journal of Human Evolution, 162, pp. 103095. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103095
- White, S., Pope, M., Hillson, S., Soligo, C. (2020). Taxonomic variation in the supraorbital region of catarrhine primates. American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 171(2), pp.198-218. DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23975
- Siek, T.J., Hirst, C.S., Monetti, L., Rivera, M.B.C., White, S., Carew, R.M. (2020). Digital Dilemma 2018: Digital Presentations in Biological Anthropology and Bioarchaeology. Papers from the Institute of Archaeology, 29(1), pp. 1-15. DOI: 10.14324/111.444.2041-9015.1171
- Hirst, C.S., White, S., Siek, T., Gasparik, A. (2019). Honeycomb sterna: An unusual case of a developmental abnormality in the sternum. Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy, 42(1), pp. 91-94. DOI: 10.1007/s00276-019-02350-4
- Hirst, C., White, S., Smith, S.E. (2018). Standardisation in 3D geometric morphometrics: Ethics, ownership, and methods. Archaeologies, 14(2), pp. 272-298. DOI: 10.1007/s11759-018-9349-7
- White, S., Hirst, C.S., Smith, S. E. (2018). The suitability of 3D data: 3D digitisation of human remains. Archaeologies, 14(2), pp. 250-271. DOI: 10.1007/s11759-018-9347-9
- Hassett, B.R., Rando, C., Bocaege, E., Alfonso Durruty, M., Hirst, C., Smith, S., Ferreira Ulguim, P., White, S., Wilson, A., (2018). Transcript of WAC 8 digital bioarchaeological ethics panel discussion, 29 August 2016 and resolution on ethical use of digital bioarchaeological data. Archaeologies, 14(2), pp. 317-337. DOI: 10.1007/s11759-018-9343-0
- White, S. (2015). Virtual Archaeology – The NextEngine desktop laser scanner. Archaeology International, 18, pp. 41-44. DOI: 10.5334/ai.1804
- White, S., Gowlett, J.A.J., Grove, M. (2014). The place of the Neanderthals in hominin phylogeny. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 35(1), pp. 32-50. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaa.2014.04.004
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