A Bit About Karin
Because I don't have the typical medico-legal background coroners are drawn from these days, I have included an extended biography below so that residents can get to know me a little. In addition, CLICK HERE to view my CV/resume.
~Married 28 years, mother of 4
~Resident of Hamilton County since 1996
~BS Anthropology, 1990. Ball State University
~MA Anthropolgy, 1994. The Ohio State University
~Archaeologist, history/natural sciences interpreter
~Member, Indiana Archaeological Council
~Homeschool teacher
~Owner/ operator at Mobile Archaeology Project
~Married 28 years, mother of 4
~Resident of Hamilton County since 1996
~BS Anthropology, 1990. Ball State University
~MA Anthropolgy, 1994. The Ohio State University
~Archaeologist, history/natural sciences interpreter
~Member, Indiana Archaeological Council
~Homeschool teacher
~Owner/ operator at Mobile Archaeology Project
I’m from southwest Ohio, originally. I grew up in Lebanon and Eaton. My father was a steel worker for 45 years, at Armco, in Middletown. For much of that time, he was a union rep. My mother was creative and curious; she was the best guide into learning a kid could hope for. We had a hobby farm and cared for every sort of animal under the sun at one time or other. I am a first generation university grad; I was a Whitinger Scholar at Ball State (full academic scholarship) and graduated cum laude in 1990. That same month, I married, and my mother died of cancer. This profoundly affected my life choices. I decided to continue my education and graduated from The Ohio University in 1994 with an MA in Anthropology (simply put, the study of humans). While there, I was an archaeology intern at the Ohio Department of Transportation where I learned what its like to work in government, and coordinate between departments and teams. Interesting. Often frustrating, but also rewarding in that you saw the direct impact your work was having- in that case salvaging archaeological information that would otherwise be lost forever.
When our first child was born, I made the choice to stay home. I was determined to delay a career once children came along. When your mother dies at 45 and you’re 22, you end up wanting to make sure you spend every moment you can with your kids. We ended up choosing to have a large family- I have 4 kids that have been my main focus for the last 24 years. But that doesn’t mean my brain stoped working, or that I stopped reading and learning. The family/career division is the catch-22 of at-home parents. While there are no accolades, and few line items for the resume, parents end up acquiring an incredibly diverse set of skills.
When the youngest kids were in elementary school, Hamilton County Parks and Rec. approached me about a job opening as a naturalist and history/science interpreter at the then new park in Strawtown. While there, a situation arose that challenged me to my core. Unknown to me when I first accepted, many of the archaeological sites at Strawtown include abundant human remains of Native American peoples. This set me on a long, involved exploration of death and all it’s meaning- what it means to different people in different places and times, how death is perceived, how different cultures and religions deal with spiritual issues and how that determines the treatment of the deceased. I had had several courses in biology, human physiology and evolution, osteology (the study of bones); my senior thesis at Ball State was an analysis of skeletal material from a mound that had been looted back in the 1980s. But none of that told me about forensics, modern death investigation and how bodies are handled in our own culture. So, I set about finding out. I researched in both books and journals, and more recently, a lecture series by Dr. Elizabeth Murray, a forensic anthropologist who consults with law enforcement agencies all over the country.
After 5 seasons of work and observation at the park, I finally became certain that human remains there were NOT in fact, being properly reported to the appropriate federal agencies, nor, in my opinion was modern ethical professional practice being followed. After years of attempting to make my voice heard, I made the heart-wrenching decision to leave HCPR, and pursue justice not only for these ancient people who no longer had a voice themselves, but their descendants who were being kept out of the archaeological process, and subsequently, being kept from accessing their own past and the care of their ancestors. I volunteered for 6 months, vicariously learning various state and federal regs, and aiding the Miami Tribe in arguing their case, until eventually it was obvious that it was going to take even more time and effort to complete the process of bringing the park into compliance. I was employed part time by the tribe for the next three years. As of this writing, the situation has yet to be fully resolved. I lost friends over this decision, but it is a choice I don’t regret. It is a scary proposition to challenge systemic issues in government. You pay a personal price. Turns out, my rude awakening to the failures of the system was just a dress rehearsal for….
2016.
In a perfect world, academics and factory workers, farmers and professionals, food service workers and retail - we should be able to live our lives, and government should be something that chugs along in the background, doing its job, there when we need it, but otherwise being out of our business. Well, it doesn’t work like that. It takes care and *active* maintenance. I feel that same responsibility to offer my service to the citizens of Hamilton County, as I did to those who were frozen out of the system at Strawtown. We have been asleep at the wheel for far too long.
Please believe me when I say, I am under no delusion that my background equates to experience in law or medicine as many coroners have. To begin, I would rely heavily on the work of the current staff, deputy coroners, the required training of the state coroner’s association, and the consultants called in to perform autopsies when required. Anthropologists are generalists, and bring very different perspectives to the virtually unlimited range of fields they end up working in. Archaeologists are also investigators, with only one chance to recover a “scene” properly. Anthropologists observe, research, analyze, and report, but perhaps most important, we build community. We facilitate communication, because we are trained to approach a subject or situation with relativity, meaning that we don’t initially and automatically favor one viewpoint, or interpretation over another.
We are trained to look at situations holistically, with a wide lens- be it a death scene, an archaeological site, a rural culture in a far-flung locale, or a troop of primates in a rainforest. In the case of a death scene, that means ALL aspects of the scene, who did it involve? what are the unique circumstances? age, health, wealth, ethnicity, religion, habits? where did it happen? when and how did it happen? is the body where it was originally deposited? Did anything happen after the death to alter the evidence on the body, as in the case of flood victims on the river, for instance? And so forth. Successful investigations avoid the temptation to make assumptions. That is the last and greatest lesson in anthropology- objectivity.
I have overcome steep learning curves in the past. I don’t take running for coroner lightly. I expect this to be a challenge for me but it's one I’m ready to tackle. In return, I will bring new perspectives to the office by virtue of being a woman, a mother, and social scientist. I look forward to serving the community in the future, regardless of the outcome of this election.
Many thanks for your consideration,
Karin