Jennifer Byrnes demonstrates her expertise to her UNLV students and colleagues every day as an associate professor and co-director of the Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology (FAB) Lab. As a board-certified forensic anthropologist, her work also has a far-reaching ripple effect in the Southern Nevada community.
She has nurtured and expanded a longstanding partnership between the UNLV Department of Anthropology and the Clark County Office of the Coroner/Medical Examiner (CCOCME), which has provided anthropology graduate students with hands-on experience, training, and research opportunities. Together they have helped resolve unidentified and missing person cases and accelerated case completion.
For this fruitful collaboration and its transformative impact, Byrnes received the 2026 UNLV Faculty/Staff Community Outreach Award.
“The weight and value of this partnership were made apparent to me when I interviewed for my current position,” she said. “I embraced this collaboration to be part of my core mission at UNLV — by intentionally weaving my research, teaching, and service together via community-engaged research, involving graduate students, and servicing the community in which I live.”
The partnership with the Coroner’s Office dates back to the 1980s and has evolved into a vital collaboration that includes intensive internships and graduate students assisting with forensic cases. The needs grew exponentially following the 1 October mass shooting when UNLV anthropology faculty and students played a key role in victim recovery and identification. When Byrnes joined UNLV in 2019, she formalized the agreement, which led to expanded services and even deeper community ties.
Filling Critical Gaps
Byrnes’ work in examining human skeletal remains and assisting with field recoveries has helped expand capacity and fill critical gaps in expertise and staffing within the Coroner’s Office. In complex cases, she may log up to 100 hours to finalize results and produce a detailed report. Completing the work locally eliminates the need to send casework to other labs and shortens wait times for families waiting for identification or other information about their loved ones. “I enable CCOCME staff to focus on their primary caseloads, effectively acting as a force multiplier for their team,” she said.
Since 2020, Byrnes has authored 54 case reports with graduate students and a postdoctoral scholar, ranging from homicides, accidents, unidentified persons, and natural death cases. For several years, she was the region’s only board-certified forensic anthropologist, granted by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology. That standing elevated forensic standards and helped the Coroner’s Office meet requirements for National Association of Medical Examiners accreditation.
Perhaps the biggest payoff has been the creation of Missing in Nevada Day in 2025, an annual event that brings together families, law enforcement and community agencies, and forensic professionals to help resolve missing and unidentified persons cases. Byrnes secured a Top Tier Doctoral Graduate Research Assistantship grant from the UNLV Graduate College and guided biological anthropology doctoral student Liam Johnson in launching the event.
This year, 18 families participated, eight new missing persons reports were filed, and one family was notified that their missing loved one was found alive.
Helping provide answers to Nevada families is one of the most rewarding aspects of her work, Byrnes said. “The most profound impact is on the families of the missing and unidentified.”
Preparing Students
The partnership is also a win for students with unmatched learning opportunities and measurable, career-defining results, Byrnes said. Since 2020, she has supervised seven graduate students, totaling 840 hours of service to the Coroner’s Office. “They gained valuable, hands-on research experience that will support their future careers. They learn through casework, which helps them build strong portfolios” to prepare to test for board certification and job placement.
The work extends to other agencies and community partners. Byrnes and her graduate students have coordinated forensic workshops for the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, aided Red Rock Search and Rescue in recovering remains from both new and previously investigated cases, and hosted numerous educational and community engagement programs in Clark County schools and at other sites.
About the Community Engagement Awards
The UNLV Office of Government and Community Engagement administers annual awards that recognize students, staff, and faculty for their exceptional Carnegie-defined academic community engagement in the areas of service-learning, community-based research, faculty/staff community outreach activity, and student service. Learn more about the Community Engagement Awards.
