Abstract
GIEF (Gruppo Italiano di Entomologia Forense – Italian Forensic Entomology Group) together with GIAOF (Gruppo Italiano di Odontologia e Antropologia Forense – Italian Group of Forensic Odontology and Anthropology) and SIMLA (Società Italiana di Medicina Legale – Italian Society of Forensic Medicine) is organizing a webinar on May 24 entitled Taphonomic Facilities: Research and Education in Forensic Anthropology and Entomology.
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This webinar is intended to students and experts of pathology, biology, chemistry, anthropology, entomology, and for law enforcement members working on forensic investigations. Thanks to the participation of world-renowned North-American experts, the webinar will present the potentialities of training activities and research conducted at the body farms and will provide an overview of some of the last developments in the fields of anthropology and entomology.
The webinar will provide a platform to discuss the scientific developments of forensic entomology and forensic anthropology that have occurred in the last years. Specifically, the event will focus on research and professional training for students and law enforcements conducted at the so-called “body farms”. These are institutional research facilities where human bodies provided by donors are used for decomposition studies. The use of human corpses makes it possible to improve our understanding of decomposition and insect colonization, and it reduces the limits posed by the animal model regarding anthropology and pathology research.
In 1981, Dr. Bill Bass, who is a world-renowned authority in the field of forensic anthropology, created the first body farm at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Currently, in the United States there are 8 similar facilities; in the rest of the world, body farms have been established in Sydney, Australia, and in Amsterdam. These facilities offer unique opportunities for researchers and experts of pathology, anthropology and entomology, who are interested in the overall process of decomposition and the biotic and abiotic factors that can interfere with it. For these reasons, body farms are also referred to as “taphonomic facilities”, which are laboratories that offer the chance to observe post-mortem phenomena of corpses until their full skeletonization. Bodies at the farms can be staged in different scenarios (i.e. buried, fully exposed, clothed) in order to gain a better understanding of the process of decay as well as insect and microbial succession.
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The webinar will be held on May 24, 2023 from 5 to 6:30 PM CEST. The deadline for registration is May 20. The webinar, for Italian participants, is open only to SIMLA Members (cliccate qui per iscrivervi a SIMLA). You can download the registration form at this link (click here). Then you will be emailed credentials to participate in the webinar. For any kind of information you can write to [email protected].
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Below you can find the program of the event
Scan the QR code below
Deadline to register: May 20, 2023
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Leggi anche: Quanta strada c’è ancora da fare per l’Entomologia Forense?
