Ginesse A. Listi
Director of the LSU FACES Lab and Associate Professor Louisiana State University
- Baton Rouge LA
Dr. Listi's current research focuses on methods for estimating the biological profile from skeletal remains.
Areas of Expertise
Research Focus
Forensic Anthropology & Bioarchaeology
Dr. Listi’s research focuses on forensic and bioarchaeological analysis of human skeletal remains, emphasizing identification of unknown decedents and population health patterns in the Gulf South. She integrates osteological assessment, isotopic and CT-based 3-D modeling, and law-enforcement casework through LSU’s FACES Laboratory to resolve cold cases and expand regional skeletal databases.
Education
Tulane University
Ph.D.
Anthropology
2008
Louisiana State University
M.A.
Anthropology
1997
Louisiana State University
B.A.
General Studies
1994
Accomplishments
LSU Tiger Athletic Foundation Outstanding Freshman Teaching Award
2011
Media Appearances
LSU lab helps law enforcement solve missing persons cases
Louisiana Illuminator online
2021-12-03
The FACES lab inspects skeletal remains to determine the victim’s age, race, height, cause of death and the time since death. Using bones and x-rays, the lab can also construct clay models and create computer renderings of what the victim looked like.
Listi, the current lab director, said that the rate of decomposition varies depending on heat, moisture and types of soil and that minerals can leach out of bones over time, sometimes leaving only a person’s teeth. She added that her team can take DNA samples from bones and teeth if no soft tissue remains.
FACES: Anthropologists help crack Rapides Parish cold case
KALB 5 tv
2019-09-05
Dr. Ginesse Listi, Ph.D., D-ABFA is the current director of the lab.
"Our expertise is typically with cases that are either skeletonized or decomposing or burned," she told us. "They can't be recognized by just looking at them. We are typically dealing with people who have been deceased for a little bit of time."
FACES stands for Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services. It's a team of five anthropologists who travel the state when remains are discovered and one imaging specialist. Together, they work roughly 70 cases a year, most of which end up being human remains.
Charred remains found in burned vehicle off I-49
Shrevport Times online
2015-09-01
Ginesse Listi, interim director of LSU's geography and anthropology department's FACES Laboratory, said there are still many ways to identify a person by their bones. She said her lab can create a biological profile that indicates a person's age range, sex, race and height based off their skeletal system. But it helps, she said, if the skeleton is complete from skull to phalange.
"You can only use what’s available to you," Listi said. "So depending on what’s recovered, you want to create as complete a profile as possible."
Articles
Analysis of Human Teeth Recovered from Burials at the Natchez Fort Site (16CT18)
Louisiana Archaeology2017
The Use of Entheseal Changes in the Femur and Os Coxa for Age Assessment
Journal of Forensic Sciences2016
This study examined the relationship between age and entheseal modifications in the femur and os coxa for estimating age at death. Five areas on the os coxa and four on the femur were scored in 200 white individuals over 40 years of age. Statistical analyses assessed the relationship between age and entheseal modification using both raw scores and scores adjusted for body size, for each sex, and for sexes combined. Results indicate that significant relationships exist between age and entheseal modification at three sites on the femur and four on the os coxae, but the relationships are not strong enough to generate age predictions. Conversely, the most severe entheseal modifications show promise as an indicator of age in older adults. Although further research is needed using larger samples for robust statistical analyses, current data indicate these modifications can suggest an age >60, or in some cases 70, years.
The Use of Entheseal Changes in the Femur and Os Coxa for Age Assessment
Journal of Forensic Sciences2015
This study examined the relationship between age and entheseal modifications in the femur and os coxa for estimating age at death. Five areas on the os coxa and four on the femur were scored in 200 white individuals over 40 years of age. Statistical analyses assessed the relationship between age and entheseal modification using both raw scores and scores adjusted for body size, for each sex, and for sexes combined. Results indicate that significant relationships exist between age and entheseal modification at three sites on the femur and four on the os coxae, but the relationships are not strong enough to generate age predictions. Conversely, the most severe entheseal modifications show promise as an indicator of age in older adults. Although further research is needed using larger samples for robust statistical analyses, current data indicate these modifications can suggest an age >60, or in some cases 70, years.
In Vivo Facial Tissue Depth for Canadian Aboriginal Children: A Case Study from Nova Scotia, Canada
Journal of Forensic Sciences2013
This study examines facial tissue depth in Canadian Aboriginal children. Using ultrasound, measurements were taken at 19 points on the faces of 392 individuals aged 3-18 years old. The relationships between tissue thickness, age, and sex were investigated. A positive linear trend may exist between tissue thickness and age for Aboriginal females and males at multiple points. No points show significant differences in facial tissue depth between males and females aged 3-8 years old; seven points show significant differences in facial tissue depth between males and females aged 9-13 years old; and five points show significant differences in facial tissue depth between males and females aged 14-18 years old. Comparisons were made with White Americans and African Nova Scotians. These data can assist in 3-D facial reconstructions and aid in establishing an individual's identity. Previously, no data existed for facial tissue thickness in Canadian Aboriginal populations.
Bio archaeological analysis of subsistence and health at the Lake George site, Mississippi (22YZ557)
Southeastern Archaeology2013
Bioarchaeological investigations of subsistence and health were conducted on a skeletal population from the Lake George site (22YZ557), a large prehistoric settlement in the lower Yazoo basin of west-central Mississippi. Subsistence is inferred from oral health indicators (including dental caries, calculus, periodontal disease, abscesses, antemortem tooth loss, and macrowear) and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios from bone collagen and apatite. Health is inferred from nonspecific indicators (including cranial porous lesions, enamel hypoplasias, and Harris lines). The sample includes 25 adults and 25 subadults, all of which date to the Coles Creek period (A.D. 700-1200). Frequencies of all pathological conditions are reported for the entire sample and divided by sex and age for adults. Results indicate a heavy pathology load at Lake George, but one that is not dissimilar to other Coles Creek populations. Isotope values indicate a diet that included primarily C3 plants (δ13CCol = −21.03‰, δ13CAp-Diet = −22.06) and terrestrial protein (δ15N = 9.72‰). The sources of nonspecific pathologies are attributed to stressors associated with increasing population density and cultural complexity that occurred during the Coles Creek period.
Affiliations
- American Board of Forensic Anthropology
- American Academy of Forensic Sciences
- American Association of Physical Anthropologists
- Delta Kappa Gamma
- International Association for Craniofacial Identification
- Southeastern Archaeological Conference
- Paleopathology Association
Event Appearances
Identifying the Recently Deceased: Louisiana State University’s Forensic Anthropology and Computer Enhancement Services Laboratory
2018 | North American Death Care Regulators’ Association New Orleans, LA
The Role of Forensic Anthropology in Resolving Natural-Disaster Related Cemetery Disruptions
2018 | Louisiana Funeral Directors & Morticians Association Baton Rouge, LA
LSU FACES Lab
2016 | Louisiana Coroner’s Association Meeting Shreveport. LA
Research Grants
Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer for Research in Geography and Anthropology
Louisiana Board of Regents Traditional ENH Grant Proposal
2016
Media
