USF’s Erin Kimmerle, a world-renowned forensic anthropologist, was featured in a 2019 National Geographic documentary exploring the fate of aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, who disappeared while flying over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.

Kimmerle tested bone fragments found on Nikumaroro Island, Kirbati, in the western Pacific, three years after Earhart’s final radio signal was transmitted. Kimmerle reconstructed a skull that likely belonged to a female and also considered Earhart’s known sinus condition. Bone fragments were then DNA tested to determine if they match Earhart’s relatives. 

• Erin Kimmerle