Phoenix Farnham, a graduate student in the University of West Florida’s Department of Anthropology, was selected for a paid internship with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, a highly competitive program focused on forensic anthropology. Farnham was one of only six students nationwide chosen for this prestigious opportunity out of a pool of 135 applicants. The internship is funded by the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research through partnership with DPAA.
“This really speaks highly of Phoenix’s talent as well as the commitment of Dr. Allysha Winburn and the rest of our Anthropology faculty,” said Dr. David Earle, dean of the College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities. “This is a perfect example of how we train students for competitive professions.”
The internship took place at the DPAA’s laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, where Farnham spent the summer collecting data for her master’s thesis on the resolution of commingling — the intermixing of human remains. Farnham’s research contributed to the agency’s ongoing mission of recovering and identifying fallen U.S. service members from past conflicts…