Jaymelee Kim
Assistant Professor, Anthropology
3037 Faculty/Administration Building
Website(s)
Department
Jaymelee Kim
Jaymelee Kim, PhD, RPA, D-ABFA is an applied anthropologist who frequently works directly with marginalized communities to address real world problems. She is also one of only about 125 active forensic anthropologists board certified through the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. Her work encompasses bioarchaeology, ethnography, and human biology.
Her research focuses on improving and co-developing justice models and forensic-based intervention in the aftermath of human rights violations and disasters. This often intersects and overlaps with historic archaeology and mortuary landscapes. She also examines the intersections of social inequity, psychosocial trauma and biology, particularly as it applies to survivor recovery or lived experiences of the deceased. In addition to analysis of human remains, she collaborates with living communities to conduct survivor-centered research and outreach in the U.S., Canada and African Great Lakes region. Her areas of expertise are forensic anthropology and archaeology, historic bio/archaeology, human anatomy, thanatology, alternative justice and human rights interventions. In her career, she has:
- Provided forensic archaeology/anthropology training, survivor services consultation and disaster response consultation domestically and abroad for local organizations and national governments.
- Advised nonprofit and non-governmental organizations in diversity, grant-writing, survivor services and organizational behavior.
- Worked in cultural resource management.
- Conducted North American and Greek archaeological investigations.
- Overseen anatomical cadaver labs and forensic spaces.
After conducting human remains excavation and analyses for over eighteen years, Dr. Kim has amassed experience from multiple forensic organizations, including the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center, or Body Farm; the Knox County Medical Examiner’s Office; and the Knox County Regional Forensic Center. Currently, Dr. Kim consults as a forensic anthropologist and archaeologist for
- the Monroe, Washtenaw and Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Offices in southern Michigan
- the Detroit Police Department and FBI with Operation UNITED, a grassroots initiative to identify cold cases
- the Carlisle Industrial School Disinterment Project
- the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
Research interest(s)/area of expertise
Forensic anthropology, forensic archaeology, thanatology, biology of poverty, neurobiology and epigenetics of trauma, structural violence and health disparity, forensic human rights and humanitarian capacity-building, political and legal anthropology, human trafficking in the U.S., Indian Residential Schools and the missing children, Indigenous rights
Projects include: Identifying missing persons/unidentified remains; working with survivors to identify needs after warfare, disaster, and human trafficking; reconciliation/repatriation of Indigenous human remains; improving forensic methods for identification of John/Jane Does.
Education
- Ph.D. in Anthropology, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
- M.A. in Anthropology, University of Tennessee-Knoxville
- B.S. in Packaging (Materials) Science, Rochester Institute of Technology
- Graduate Certificate in Linguistics
- Graduate Certificate in Disasters, Displacement and Human Rights
Awards and grants
- 2022-24, "Forensic Science Cultures: Beliefs, Perceptions, and Victim Identification in Post-War Uganda." The Wenner-Gren Foundation, Post-PhD Research Grant. Co-PI: Hepner
- 2021-22, "Effects of Intersecting Stakeholder Risk Perception, Preparedness, and Response to Tornadoes in TN." National Hazards Center, Weather-Ready Research Grant. Co-PIs: Reinke, Eldridge
- 2019-21, "Restless Spirits and Human Remains: Life, Death, and Justice in Post-War Northern Uganda." School for Advanced Research Seminar Grant. Chairs: Hepner, Steadman
- 2016-17, "Agency of the Dead, Alternative Justice, and Forensic Intervention in Uganda." Minority Health Int'l Research and Training Program, National Institute of Health
- 2013-16, "Transitional Justice, Forensic Intervention, and Human Rights in Canada," National Science Foundation
- 2013-14, "Transitional Justice, Forensic Intervention, and Human Rights in Canada," The Wenner-Gren Foundation
News mentions
- Detroit’s Unidentified Dead: Operation UNITED. Podcast interview with Dr. Kim and the directors of Operation UNITED, a joint DPD-FBI effort to identify Michigan's cold cases
- Evolving Perspectives on Anthropology and Human Rights. Webinar with Dr. Kim and other human rights experts discussing the relationship between anthropology and human rights for the American Association for the Advancement of Science
- HHRRC – Building Forensic Capacity Post-Conflict: Lessons From Uganda. National Institute of Justice webinar about Dr. Kim's research and forensic capacity-building in Uganda, where spirits of the dead and forensic anthropology intersect
- The Myth of Closure. An American Anthropology Association podcast episode co-created by Dr. Kim and other anthropologists discussing the myth of closure in victim identification. This episode features the renowned Dr. Sarah Wagner and the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team's Mercedes Salado
- Zonta Club to hold event on trafficking awareness. A human trafficking awareness event that Dr. Kim spoke at, along with Ohio's Senator Fedor
Selected publications
- 2024 Kim, JJ, AP Winburn, and MK Moore. Structural Vulnerability Approaches to Forensic Anthropology: Beyond Evolutionary Theory. Forensic Science International - Synergy
- 2024 Friedlander, H, J Allen, and JJ Kim. Development of Human Remains Investigations at Fatal Fire Scenes: Bridging Anthropology and Fire Sciences in the United States. WIREs Forensic Science
- 2024 Friedlander, H, and JJ Kim. The Law Enforcement Agency Forensic Anthropologist. Journal of Forensic Investigation, 71(1)
- 2024 Kim, JJ. Developing Human Trafficking Research with Local Agencies. Southern Anthropologist, 38:130-142
- 2023 Kim, JJ, AP Winburn, H Scott, and MK Moore. Adapting Forensic Case Reporting to Account for Marginalization and Vulnerability. Forensic Science International - Synergy
- 2023 Kim, JJ. Human Rights. In In Wald, P, Altschuler, S and J Metzel (Eds.) Keywords for Health Humanities. NYU Press: New York
- 2023 Kim, JJ and H Friedlander. If You See Something, Say Something: Using a Structural Vulnerability Profile in Forensic Casework. Forensic Science International - Synergy 6(100328)
- 2023 Kim, JJ and A Rosenblatt. Whose Humanitarianism? Whose Forensic Anthropology? In Parra, Robert C. and Douglas H. Ubelaker (Eds.), Anthropology of Violent Death: Theoretical Foundations for Forensic Humanitarian Action. Wiley: Hoboken, NJ
- 2022 Moore, MK and JJ Kim. Marginalization, Death, and Decline: The role of Forensic Anthropology to document the osteology of poverty in Detroit, Michigan in the 21st Century. In Byrnes, Jennifer and Ivan Sandoval-Cervantes (Eds.), Marginalized in Death: A Forensic Anthropology of Intersectional Identity in the Modern Era. Lexington Books: Washington, D.C
- 2022 Kim, JJ and MK Moore. Recommendations for Large-Scale Exhumations of Potter’s Fields: Cases in the US. Forensic and Legal Medicine
- 2022 Adams, DM, JG Goldstein, M Isa, JJ Kim, MK Moore, MA Pilloud, SD Tallman, AP Winburn. A Conversation on Redefining Ethical Considerations in Forensic Anthropology. American Anthropologist
- 2022 Kim, JJ, LMMK Elgerud, and H Tuller. Gaining Community Entry with Survivors for Forensic Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention. Forensic Sciences Research. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/20961790.2021.2002524
- 2021 Kim, JJ. Indigenous Youth and Experiences with Transitional Justice in Canada. Neos 13(1)
- 2021 Kim, JJ, ER Eldridge, AJ Reinke, and R Williams. Digitally shaped ethnographic relationships during a global pandemic and beyond. Qualitative Research. DOI: doi.org/10.1177/14687941211052275
- 2020 Kim, JJ, AJ Reinke, ER Eldridge, and M Grant. Between Ohio and Georgia: Constructing the COVID-19 Disaster in the United States. Anthropology Today 36(4):17-19. DOI: doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12591
- 2020 Elgerud, LMMK and JJ Kim. Mapping the Intangible: Forensic Human Rights Documentation in Post-conflict Uganda. The International Journal of Human Rights 24(4):594-615. DOI: doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2020.1783534
- 2019 Kim, JJ, LMMK Elgerud, and H Tuller. Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology Sensitization in Post-Conflict Uganda. Forensic Science International 306:110062. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.110062
- 2019 Kim, JJ and TR Hepner. Of Justice and the Grave: the Role of the Dead in Post-Conflict Uganda. International Criminal Law Review 19(6):1-25. DOI: doi.org/10.1163/15718123-01905004
- 2018 Kim, JJ. Perspectives from the Ground: Bureaucratic Violence, Identity, and Transitional Justice in Canada. Conflict and Society: Advances in Research 4(1):116-134
- 2018 Kim, JJ. An Alternative Approach to Forensic Anthropology: Findings from Northern Uganda. African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review 8(1):29-53
Other qualifications directly relevant to courses taught
- Registered Professional Archaeologist
- Diplomate (board certified), American Board of Forensic Anthropology
- Full member, American Academy of Forensic Sciences Anthropology Section (conference co-chair)
- Member, Society of Forensic Anthropologists
- Member, American Anthropological Association (public policy task force, Association of Indigenous Anthropologists)
- Member, Society for Historical Archaeology
- Member, Conference on Michigan Archaeology
- Member, Ohio Mortuary Response Team
- Member, Michigan Mortuary Response Team
Courses taught by Jaymelee Kim
Fall Term 2025 (future)
Winter Term 2025 (current)
- ANT2130 - Introduction to Forensic Anthropology and Human Rights
- CRJ2130 - Introduction to Forensic Anthropology and Human Rights
Fall Term 2024
Winter Term 2024
- ANT2130 - Introduction to Forensic Anthropology and Human Rights
- CRJ2130 - Introduction to Forensic Anthropology and Human Rights