COM Outlook Spring 2020

NOVA SOUTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY | 25 “It was my mom’s dream to see the house completely restored, but she was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1996 and passed away in 1999,” Reinsch said. “My dad continued the restoration, which took about 14 years to complete. My dad and stepmom still own the house today.” Archaeology Appeal When it came time to attend college, Reinsch chose to stay close to home and attend the University of Florida (UF) in Gainesville to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology. “When I was in college, I worked the night shift as a telemetry technician at UF Health to pay for my expenses,” she said. “I adored my job and loved interacting with the patients, nurses, and physicians, but I lacked the self-confidence needed to pursue medicine at that point in my life.” While at UF, Reinsch also volunteered at the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory (CAPHIL). It proved to be a life-changing experience. “Many of the researchers who earned their Ph.D.s in anthropology at UF went on to work for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), so I was exposed to the kind of work they do early in my profes- sional career,” Reinsch said. “I was fascinated by U.S. personnel recovery efforts from the moment I began Left to right: Kelsey Reinsch displaying her fierce determination and go-for-it attitude; working in Germany during a service personnel recovery mission in 2016; and, third from left, assisting with the wet screening of airplane wreckage on a recovery mission to Palau, also in 2016.