2026 FSF IAFS Scholarship Recipient Announced

We are pleased to announce that the recipient of the 2026 Forensic Sciences Foundation (FSF) International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS) Scholarship recipient is Sophia Mavroudas, PhD, Fellow of the AAFS Anthropology Section.

The 24th Triennial Meeting of the International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS 2026) will be held from May 25-30, 2026, in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Sophia received both her BA in Anthropology and Hellenic Studies and her MA in Anthropology from NYU. She completed her PhD in Applied Anthropology from Texas State University in 2023. She is currently the Associate Director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University where she has worked since 2011, and a Fellow of the Anthropology section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Her research foci include applied bone histology research as well as humanitarian forensic action in the Mediterranean.

In 2022, during her Fulbright fellowship, she began her collaborative partnership with the Forensic Medicine Unit (FMU) at the University of Crete investigating the humanitarian response to migration-related fatalities in Greece. She will be presenting her ongoing FMU collaborative work on the application of forensic archaeology techniques to the Northern Aegean islands at the IAFS Meeting.

Sophia will receive up to $5,000 to cover the costs of airfare, registration, housing, and per diem for five nights while in attendance of the meeting.