September 15, 2015
The September issue of the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine features an article by UNL students and faculty associated with the Forensic Science Program (Johnica Morrow, and Karl Reinhard in addition to Leon Higley, Diesel Baldwin and Dario Piombino-Mascali).
The topic of this article "Curatorial implications of Ophyra capenis(Order Diptera, Family Muscidae) puparia recovered from the body of the Blessed Antonio Patrizi, Montaciano, Italy (Middle Ages)" was one of the main discussion topics for the Forensic Taphonomy class during this project.
The researchers found evidence of insects on the mummified remains of an individual and indicated their presence was related to the decomposition of the organic matter and not the result of an infestation from more recent years. This article illustrates how collection and identification of insects related to human remains allows scientists to distinguish between historical decomposition and curatorial issues.
Dr. Reinhard teaches FORS 300 – Forensic Taphonomy (the study of decomposition) and gave the students in that class a closer look at the important functions of forensic scientists in the fields of entomology and taphonomy.