Forensic Anthropology Jobs Openings Job description

Alongside forensic pathologists, forensic anthropologists are the most sought after forensic scientists on the job market currently. Open positions are most commonly found in government institutions, universities, as well the private sector, like consulting firms.

Currently, the U.S. is faced with a shortage of licensed forensic anthropologists, a job on demand.i

Forensic Anthropologist Job Description

A forensic anthropologist is a trained physical anthropologist, licensed as an expert in bone analysis.Their expertise is applied to analyzing and identifying the remains of deceased individuals in attempt to deduce the causes of death. Education-wise, a Ph.D. in physical anthropology, with a focus on osteology is required.

Forensic Anthropology Salary – an entry-level position may start at $25,000 to $30,000. An experienced professional may make $75,000 to $95,000.

Resource where you can search for forensic anthropology job openings

• simply hired
• forensic mag
• american association of physical anthropologists 

Forensic entomology is the use and study of insects, and arthropod biology, that inhabit decomposing remains in order to aid legal investigations in criminal matters. Typically, forensic entomology is associated with death investigations, however it’s also applied to civil and other criminal components, non-related to homicides. Thus, forensic entomology can be broken down into three general areas of interest: medicolegal, urban and stored products pets.

Death can be defined as the physical shut down of bodily and brain functions, and is officially determined when all of the body’s biological functions are inert. Shortly after death, the body begins to cool and biological tissue starts to stiffen until it becomes hard – this is called rigor mortis. After all the cells in the body stop functioning, the body decomposition process boots as bacteria breaks down protein, lipids and various other organic compounds in the body.

There are five stages of human decomposition:

• initial decay. The corpse internally decays, however from the outside it looks normal.
• putrefaction. This is the stage where the corps begins to smell, as gas swells the body and flesh begins to decay.
• black putrefaction. The gas pressure increases to the degree that it causes the body to collapse and the gas to escape, intensifying the odor. The flesh, now in an more advanced state of decay, turns a to a creamy white and exposed parts blacken, hence the term.
• butyric fermentation. The corpse dries out.
• dry decay. The last stage of human decomposition find the corpse almost completely dried out, with bones exposed and with a dramatic slow down of the rate of decay.

If a body has been dead for quite some time, forensic entomologists use the presence and life cycles of Calliphoridae (flies) and Coleoptera (beetles) on the body to help determine time of death. Examining the life cycle of blow flies and beetles on the body as well as the environment around the body (i.e. weather, temperature, precipitation, etc.) that might affect those insects is one of the best ways of estimating a time of death.

Typically, the time of death can be established by checking the temperature or grade of rigor mortis, but this only works recently deceases. To determine the time of death for a corpse already in decay, forensic entomology comes in great utility. Forensic entomology studies a slew of insects, however as far as death investigations are concerned, the main interest is directed towards necrophagous (corpse-eating) insects. The most common of such insects are the blow flies and beetles, and for the sake of simplicity, only these two will be discussed further. For a more extensive look, please study a more comprehensive resource.

Forensic Entomology Study of Blow Flies

Maggots on sheep corpse

Just minutes after death, blow files begin to lay sacks of up to 250 eggs through the body’s orifices, such as the mouth, nostrils, genitals, any kind of open wound and so on. Within 24 hours, these eggs hatch into larvae or “maggots” – this is called the first stage. As they feed they molt into second-stage maggots and after several hours molt into third-stage maggots. If there are a significant number of third-stage maggots feeding on the body it can cause the body’s temperature to rise.

After the maggots are done feeding on the corpse, they will begin to migrate away from it and enter the pupal stage. These blow flies pupae typically resemble rat droppings or cockroach egg cases, which often causes them to be overlooked by crime scene investigators – big mistake, since they signify an extremely important stage for forensic entomologists. If the adult insect has yet to emerge, the pupa will appear featureless and rounded on both sides. If the adult insect has emerged, one end will appear cut off and at a closer inspection its hollow interior can be observed. Adult blow flies are easily recognizable by their metallic green or blue appearance.

Forensic Entomology Study of Beetles

The beetles are one of the largest groups of animals, order Coleoptera. Like the blow flies, beetles also undergo development, with larvae appearing sensibly different form the adult form. An untrained eye might confuse the blow fly maggots with the beetles larvae, since they look very much alike, however it’s worth nothing that beetle larvae vary greatly from one species to another. The main difference between beetle larvae and maggots found on decomposing bodies is that the the first have 3 pairs of legs, while the latter doesn’t have any. The bodies of beetle larvae may range from almost white, robust, and hairless to dark brown, slender, and quite hairy, while other may appear black or with armor plates on their back.

Insects recovered from decomposing bodies are of great use to toxicological analysis. While the insects are very fast in devouring the decomposing remains of a body, the same chemicals in the body will be found in the insects themselves, as they’ve also ingested them. Thus, it’s fairly easy to recover insect larvae for toxicological analysis, since insect larvae tissue assimilates drugs and toxins that accumulated in human tissue prior to death.

A forensic sketch artist is a trained individual who interviews witness from a crime scene or the victims themselves in order to gather information about the physical appearance of the offender, after which he proceeds to draw his portrait.  These portraits have often been invaluable to law enforcement efforts worldwide, helping identify hardened criminals and putting them to justice before they had the chance to commit yet another crime.

During the past few years however, the skill and art of forensic sketch artists has slowly, but steadily been replaced by technology in the form of 3D face recognition software and the likes. Today, only 200 forensic sketch artists remain the in US, of these just a handful are employed on a permanent basis.

Facial software programs such as “Identi-Kit Solutions” and “Faces 4.0.” have a database filled with thousands of patterns, facial types, clothing, hair style and so on, that it makes it easy almost for anyone with no art background to come up with a sketch of the individual breaking the law. Critics, however, argue that these softwares are flawed and prone to error – far from accurate.  Lois Gibson, a sketch artist long employed by the Houston Police Department, said the software isn’t as detailed or accurate and can impede interview techniques a trained artist employs to help a witness remember.

“I’ve had it where the crook liked (the sketch) so much they later gave it to him to hang in his cell,” Gibson said, who along her career has helped in the apprehension or identification of 1,266 people.

Paul Wright, president and owner of the Arizona-based Identi-Kit Solutions, said the company’s software is used by as many as 1,000 police agencies and criminal justice education programs nationwide.

The hands-on artist is “irreplaceable,” he said — but computer software is the next best thing.

“The key is that every single feature can be modified, resized, removed, or pulled horizontally to change the way it looks,” Wright said. “It really does have quite a bit of horsepower and is pretty limitless for what it can do.”

story and image via Chicago Tribune

Scientists from the Kenya’s University of Nairobi and Japan’s Yokohama National University and Yokohama City University now claim that by analyzing the ecological sleuthing left behind, they can assess “patterns and preferences” of the poachers, and thus aid the creation of better management policies that are helpful to both humans and wildlife.

Near the Ngong Road Forest Reserve in Nairobi, Kenya, approximately 80% of the 300,000 inhabitants are below the national poverty line. These residents often go forests in take whatever they want. Forest rangers constantly patrol this region, however it’s a common sight for them to spot fresh tree stomps. The scientists hypothesized that an analysis of these stumps could provide information about the poachers’ motives and could also help researchers predict the potential ecological outcomes of continued illegal harvesting.

By dividing a large area of the forest into grids, which were analyzed, the researchers were able to know what kind of trees poachers prefer, including their size, location, type and so on. The researchers point out that wood harvesting preferences can change quickly as a result of variations in resource availability and socioeconomic circumstances.

A solution to the problem, proposed by the forensic forest scientists is to engage the local communities from the slum, and install a responsibility and awareness problem. The second goal is to remove invasive lantana before it completely chases native vegetation out of the forest. Finally, the researchers emphasize the need to develop more sustainable techniques of harvesting fuel.

These solutions all look fine and dandy, however the main issue at hand is absolute poverty. How can you really blame or prosecute a person for taking wood, from the lands he grew up in, to keep his family warm and relatively civilized (i.e. fire). Forest poaching is an issue which will go on to persist for ever if action by the local government isn’t in place. Fix poverty, and the rest will soon be better too.

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Painting depicting the death of Julius Caesar, by C.l. Doughty.

Forensic pathology is probably the most important field of forensic science today. A forensic pathologist must determine the cause of an unexpected death, whether it be a homicide (murder); suicide; accidental or natural causes. To establish the cause of death, a forensic pathologist has an array of tools and techniques at his disposal, the most common and effective being an autopsy. Technical terms include: lacerations; incised wound; puncture; abrasion; construsion; gunshot wound (then if it was a contact, close range, intermediate range, or distant range).

The advance of technology has greatly helped forensic pathology become more accurate, most notably DNA tests absolutely revolutionized the field when they were first introduced. But this is a bit far away – to review the history of forensic pathology, we need to dwell far deeper.

Some historians have regarded Imhotep (2650-2600 BC) as the first medicolegal expert because he was both chief justice and personal physician to pharaoh Zoser. In ancient Egypt, juridicial inquiries, aided by postmortem examinations, were required as far as some unexpected deaths were concerned, for high levels members of the clique.

In 44 BC, on of the first historical account of a forensic pathology examination occurred immediately after the sleighing of Julius Caesar by his collaborators. The examiner of that time concluded that of the the 23 wounds found on the body only one was fatal. Senators didn’t have that much of a skill with daggers and knives, maybe Brutus, a distinguished military, was the one that struck the fatal blow?

The first forensic medicine book was written in 1247 by Song Ci, an outstanding forensic scientist in the Southern Song Dynasty, who is now remembered as the father of forensic medicine. The five-volume masterpiece is titled Xiyuanjilu, and was written from Song Ci’s experience with forensic medicine during his life time.

In Europe, the first written records concerning forensic pathology appeared in 1507, when a volume titled the Bamberg Code appeared. Interesting enough a few years after the book came out, Emperor Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire changed the penal code in an very extensive manner, dubbing it Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, in which, among other, forensic pathology in trial was given a high importance. Thus, medical testimony was required during a trial, such that the manner of death had to be concluded, whether it was infanticide, homicide, abortion or poisoning.

Pathology was branched as an integral part of medicine into the investigation of deaths in the latter part of the nineteenth century, in America at least, when in 1890 in Baltimore a city ordinance authorized the Board of Health to appoint two physicians with the titles of medical examiner and assign them the duty of performing all autopsies requested by the coroner.

Finally, after pathology and toxicology were applied in solving thousands of crime cases in the world, forensic pathology was first recognized in the USA by the American Board of Pathology in 1959. Canada came a bit late to officialese the field, as it was formally recognized in 2003.

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Apparently however, confessions aren’t all about pointing fingers, and can have some dramatic effects to defendents who are actually innocent. A new study found that in cases where suspects confess to a crime, heavily influence forensic examinations that then tend to lean towards finding by all means evidence to support the guilty verdict – even if the confession is coerced or false.

Saul Kassin, Daniel Bogart and Jacqueline Kerner analyzed 241 cases from the Innocence Project, which uses DNA tests to try to exonerate prisoners who are in fact not guilty. Most of these wrongful conviction involve bad eyewitness testimonials, proven to be mistaken. A quarter of the bad verdicts, however, involved false confessions.

These false confessions were soon followed, usually, by a botch of forensic evidence. Too fast, too soon, out of nowhere. This certain sequence of events has lead the researchers to believe that the investigators’ scientific conclusions were corrupted by belief in the defendant’s guilt.

The study throws doubt on a critical legal concept designed to safeguard the innocent: corroboration. Appeals courts uphold a conviction even if a false confession is discovered, as long as other evidence—say, forensics or other witness testimony—independently shows guilt.  “What these findings suggest is that there may well be the appearance of corroboration,” says Kassin, “but it is false evidence that was corrupted by the confession—not independent at all.”

The study was published in the journal Psychological Science.

Biotaphonomy

Biotaphonomy analyzes the remains themselves, to see how they have been affected and what processes they have undergone. It has to find out how decomposition, destruction, or the lack of these two came to be. The main factors which intervene in this analysis have been classified into three categories:

- Individual factors; these are the factors of the body itself, such as age, body size, etc.
- Environmental factors; these are the external variables which have to be taken into consideration. They two can be classified into two categories: biotic (living factors) and abiotic.
- Cultural factors; these are more specific factors which generally refer to activities which characterize the human mortuaries.

Geotaphonomy

Geotaphonomy analyzes how the buried body affects the surrounding environment, in shallow geological and botanical terms. There are several areas of interest here:

- The disturbance of soil, such as mixing of the layers, compaction or aeration or any other disturbance.
- Footprints or any other type of prints on the bottom of the grave.
- Alteration of erosion or of natural water flow.
- Acceleration or retardation of the growth of surrounding plants.
- Alteration of the soil’s pH.
- Tool marks on the walls or in the soil.

So, what’s the utility of forensic taphonomy? The main purpose is to create a taphonomic profile, accurately describing the perimortem and postmortem evolution of the body. This concept generally revolves around the circumstances of death, which include: time of death, location, assailant or victim details, original position, etc.

There are three main interactions which work together, as I already said: the environment, the individual and the surrounding and cultural factors, but these are mostly subtle and hard to track, so being a forensic taphonomist is no easy job, and there is nothing that can prepare you from A to Z in this field, as it requires a sum of related knowledge from various fields. But anyway, it’s not a job for everybody – forensic taphonomists are known to have a strong stomach.

Phoenix Jones doesn’t have any super powers, but is equipped with a bulletproof vest, pepper spray, stab plating, hand cuffs, a stun baton and a first aid kit. Jones said he wanted to take care of things in his own way, after being disappointed several times by the Seattle police, and seeing many people in dire need of help – your average superhero story so far. He didn’t save the world, and he didn’t even save Seattle, but according to several reports, he did prevent a series of crimes taking place, such as stopping a bus jacking and several car thefts and helping several people who were beaten up.

However, on October 9th something intriguing happened. Phoenix Jones was arrested for questionable use of pepper spray, after some night club patrons claimed they were attacked by the masked man. However, video recordings showed that this was not the case and that Phoenix Jones indeed stopped a fight in progress; charges was dropped and he was released just hours later.

However, following his arrest, he was forced to unmask and his true identity was revealed – which we won’t discuss here, because, well, you just don’t do that. The bad thing is that the was fired from his day job – a teacher for autistic kids. Does being a superhero in your spare time make you unfit to teach autistic children? If anything, it makes you more likely to be able to bond with them. He hasn’t posed any danger to civilians and he did really good at his job – his heroic attitude seems to make him suitable for this kind of job. What do you think? Is this fair?

As climate change events intensify, leading to an increase of flooding, hurricanes and other cataclysmic related phenomena, the industry of forensic meteorology can only grow.

Forensic meteorology is the process of reconstructing weather events occuring at a certain time and location. This is achieved by retrieving and analyzing archived meteorological data (local reports, radio and satellite imaging, eye-witness reports) and re-creating a time line of meteorological events. Attorneys and insurance companies often require the services of a professional meteorologist to investigate, report on, and provide expert testimony regarding past weather conditions that are pertinent to civil lawsuits, criminal trials, and insurance claims.

Frank Lombardo is a forensic meteorologist, and when Irene struck the East coast less than a few week ago, he was one of the first to be called out to investigate.

“As soon as something happens…whether there’s a catastrophic event or a minor localized event, forensic meteorologists understand things will quiet down, but in a few years from now, it will get into the courts,” says Lombardo, president of WeatherWorks, Inc. The Hackettstown, N.J.–based company provides meteorological expertise to public and private sector organizations, including the media.

Forensic Meteorology isn’t restricted to flooding or other major natural disaster, instead it can be applied to any kind of event that can be caused by a weather-dependent factor. A forensic meteorologist might be asked to assess whether a lightning sprung a fire, or if a given property is to blame for the injury of a person who slipped down ice and so on.

For their investigation purposes, forensic meteorologists gather data from various sources, however most often the most reliable are their own measurements. For instance, in a particular case, Lombardo recalls he dwelt with a case in which a construction worker was injured by a crane which collapsed – that particular model of the crane could withstand wind velocities of up to approximately 48 to 56 kilometers per hour. Using an anemometer and a few simple vector computations, Lombardo was able to assess that the wind speed near the crane was around 29 to 48 kilometers per hour, enough for it to break.

“I secured information that supported the case that the [worker] shouldn’t have been operating the crane,” Lombardo says. “It wasn’t his fault. It was a function of the wind converging on the wall, which increased the wind pressure on the crane, causing it to collapse.”

Sometimes data escapes forensic meteorologists, since most often a major calamity, like the Katrina hurricane, disable weather stations. This is where weather models come in, like the massive computer model called “ADvanced CIRCulation” (ADCIRC), which predicts tidal and storm surge elevations and velocities over large areas.

Of course, forensic meteorology is also used for crime fighting. There are numerous accounts where a forensic meteorologist’s testimony has provided evidence for a defendant’s alibi or, on the contrary, for an accused’s guilt. Is there any science that doesn’t apply to forensics, really?

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Ballistic trajectory passing through a body in a reconstructed crime scene environment. (C) AI2-3D

AI2-3D is a Canadian firm which specializes in crime scene reconstructions and 3D forensic animated visualization. Using modern technology like laser scanning and photogrammetry, the company has helped forensic scientists, crime scene investigators, lawyers or detectives to visually piece together information for over 60 cases worldwide.

If you’re a fan of the popular TV shows CSI or Law and Order, than chances are you’ve come across the infamous graphic reconstructions often depicted episode after episode. In reality, behind the scenes, these kind of reconstructions involve a long and tedious process, usually lasting at least 8 weeks. Every piece has to be accurately placed, and this takes time, otherwise the point of recreating a situation as faithfully as possible becomes flawed.  Ai2-3D is the real deal when virtual crime scene reconstruction is concerned, and recently we’ve managed to reach the company’s CEO, Eugene Liscio, who was kind enough to answer some of ITSGOV’s questions.

ITSGOV: Video animations and scene reconstructions have been around for quite a while. What does AI2-3D bring new to the table?

Eugene Liscio, AI2-3D: Many people involved in providing animation services come from an artistic background and do not approach a 3D Reconstruction in quite the same manner. My background is in Engineering (Aerospace Engineer) and there are 3 main components to my work. The first is Measurement/Mapping which is the foundation of any reconstruction. I use either laser scanners, total stations, photogrammetry or direct/hand measurements to create highly detailed models or to document a scene. The second component is the analysis. Where many people might jump right to the visualization, my interests are in the analysis of the data and trying to determine what pieces of information I can extract or pull from the scene model that might have an impact on the case. Finally, the visualization is the presentation of the data and the analysis either as a plan drawing, still image (3D Render), animation or a Forensic Virtual Model (i.e. interactive model). So, what AI2-3D brings to the table is a full documentation, analysis and visualization service.

Car accident reconstruction

ITSGOV: How accurate are the facts you depict in the AI2-3D animations (i.e.the position of the bicycle rider with respect to the car on the moment of impact) and how do you come about this information?

Eugene Liscio, AI2-3D:This is a great question. The physical evidence that comes from a scene is really what defines positions. Things like scrape marks, tire marks, vehicle crush, bloodstains, bullet trajectories, patterned injuries…etc. are physical evidence that can be interpreted by an experienced reconstructionist, bloodstain pattern analysis, pathologist or ballistics expert to tell you how some things contacted each other or how they were positioned.

In some cases, the amount of information is very limited and you have to start looking at many possibilities and scenarios about the events of the crime or accident. This is often useful in the investigation as it can provide some insight into other areas where investigators need to look for evidence. However, the legal “weight” of these reconstructions is limited due to their lack of physical measurements taken at the scene. So, you use these reconstructions as tools to aid the investigation, but not as substantive evidence.

Crime scene reconstruction with photogrammetry

ITSGOV: Do you have close ties with local authorities/forensic institutions?

Eugene Liscio, AI2-3D: Absolutely. I have done training for local and international police agencies and am currently doing some research with a local police force about measurement of bullet trajectories. I also believe it’s important to keep close ties with students and academic institutions and I currently have 3 students doing research at the University of Toronto (Forensic Sciences Program). By the end of this year, I will have been to conferences and speaking engagements in Germany, Holland, Canada, USA and Brazil.

ITSGOV: How often are you called about?

Eugene Liscio, AI2-3D: I travel about once a month, usually to “local” places, but a few times to the US to work on homicide cases. With all the communication tools available today, it’s quite easy to keep updated and speak with colleagues from all over the world so sometimes travel is not required, especially when evidence can be shipped to your doorstep.

ITSGOV: I understand AI2-3D reconstructions are sometimes used in court. What are their impact? Do they sometime account as evidence?

Eugene Liscio, AI2-3D: Once accepted in court, the evidence is either demonstrative evidence or substantive evidence. My work has been accepted in court either on its own or in many cases as part of another experts report. It’s difficult to quantify exactly how an animation helped so you have to rely on feedback from lawyers, investigators and scientists who are my clients. Lawyers and attorneys like the fact that they can have something visual to present that might make a complex subject a bit simpler to understand. On the other hand, many of the forensic experts I work with appreciate the scenario testing we can do to qualify a certain hypothesis about a crime.