Former Firefighter/Paramedic turned Bioarchaeologist/Writer

Following a thirteen-year career as a firefighter/paramedic, Dr. Wentz retired from the Orlando Fire Department to pursue advanced degrees in biological anthropology. She graduated from Florida State University with an MS and PhD in Anthropology, specializing in the analysis of human remains with foci on ancient disease and population health. Dr. Wentz has done skeletal work in Florida, St. Croix, England, and Ukraine, and obtained experience in forensics at the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory at the University of Florida, Gainesville. She has taught courses in physical anthropology, human osteology, medical anthropology, and forensic anthropology at FSU and her work has been featured on the History Channel, the Weather Channel, and in Archaeology Magazine.

She is the author of seven books. Her first novel, The Mass of Men, won the Florida Authors and Publishers Association Silver Medal President's Award in Genre Fiction and recently became an IndieReader "Best Of" book. Her memoir, Let Burn: The Making and Breaking of a Firefighter/Paramedic, also won a FAPA Silver Medal, in Memoirs. Her latest book, The Body Blog: Explorations in Science and Culture, won the FAPA Silver Medal in Adult Non-Fiction.

Please visit Dr. Wentz' website at rachelwentzbooks.com, follow her on Twitter @RKWentzBooks and Instagram at rachelwentzbooks.