Nikki Appel

Graduated: MS, 2026

Evolutionary Anthropology

Dissertation Title:
"Disparities Between Chronological and Biological Age: A Biocultural Analysis of Aging in Contemporary Populations"

Committee Chair:
Dr. Heather Edgar

Research Interest/s:

Human variation; age estimation; quantitative analysis; virtual anthropology; forensic anthropology; biocultural anthropology; skeletal biology

Awards:

National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant. “Doctoral Dissertation Research: Assessing differences between biological age-at-death estimations and known chronological age-at-death in humans.”

Publications:

Kelly Kamnikar, Nicollette S Appel, Esteban Rangel, Natalie Adolphi, Amaya Abeyta-Brown, Steven D Ousley, Heather JH Edgar. Stature estimation equations for modern American Indians in the American Southwest. Forensic Science International, 361, 2024:112151.

Nicollette S Appel, Heather JH Edgar, Shamsi Daneshvari Berry, Keith Hunley. Error and bias in race and ethnicity descriptions in medical examiner records in New Mexico: consequences for understanding mortality among Hispanic/Latinos. Forensic Science International, 7, 2023:100388.