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Series: Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification

Just Using Forensic Art and Anthropology for Identification

September 2022

In episode four of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification Season, Just Science sat down with Katharine Pope, a Research Public Health Analyst at RTI International, Dr. Bruce Anderson, a forensic anthropologist with the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, and Joe Mullins, an instructor at the New York Academy of Art, to discuss human identification using forensic anthropology and facial approximations.

Just a Curious Case of Print Persistence

September 2022

In episode two of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification Season, Just Science sat down with Bryan Johnson, the Major Incident Program Manager in the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Latent Print Unit, to discuss how postmortem prints can be used to help identify unknown decedents. One of the cheapest, easiest and fastest methods of identifying individuals is through friction ridge prints. However, challenges can arise in cases where trauma or decomposition affect quality of a decedent's hands.

Just Identifying Individuals with Forensic Genetic Genealogy

September 2022

In episode one of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Heather McKiernan, a Research Forensic Scientist at RTI International, and Ashley Rodriguez, a Research Public Health Analyst at RTI International, to discuss the use of forensic genetic genealogy in identifying human remains. Oftentimes unknown human remains are recovered fully or partially skeletonized, with no close biological relatives in CODIS to facilitate identification.

Just Leveraging Databases for Human Identification

September 2022

In episode three of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification season, Just Science sat down with Lori Bruski and Amy Jenkinson, two research public health analysts at RTI International to discuss inter-agency efforts to compile crime, missing persons and decedent information and comprehensive databases. In the digital age, criminal justice information can be uploaded into databases and organized in a searchable, centralized location, making it more accessible than ever.