Dr. Passalacqua is an Associate Professor and the Director of Forensic Anthropology at Western Carolina University. Dr. Passalacqua is a co-founder and a current editor-in-chief of the journal <i>Forensic</i> <i>Anthropology</i>. He is also currently the Vice President of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology.<br> Dr. Passalacqua was the 2021 winner of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Outstanding Emerging Forensic Scientist Award and has co-authored the award-winning textbook: <i>Forensic anthropology: Current methods and practice</i>, as well as the books: <i>Ethics and professionalism in forensic anthropology</i>, and <i>A laboratory manual for forensic anthropology</i>. Dr. Passalacqua also has numerous publications in such journals as: <i>Forensic Anthropology, The American Journal of Physical Anthropology, The International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, and The Journal of Forensic Sciences</i>, as well as chapters in such books as: <i>Skeletal trauma analysis: Case studies in context,</i> <i>The analysis of burned human remains, Age estimation of the human skeleton</i>, and <i>A companion to forensic anthropology</i>.
Most of my research currently focuses on ethics and the professionalization of forensic anthropology; including education, qualifications, certification, and competency.