Oct22HPT

Sometimes writing a book is living hell

Colleen Rich — Wed, 26 Oct 2022 15:54:27 +0000

Sometimes writing a book is living hell Colleen Rich Wed, 10/26/2022 - 11:54

When ��AV alum Miriam Van Scott, BA English ’92, was working as a freelance writer in the mid-1990s, she was researching an article about the afterlife and frustrated by the resources she was using. She realized what she needed was a compendium of all things related to the netherworld—so she wrote one. The result was the “Encyclopedia of Hell” (St. Martin’s Griffin, 1998). She followed it up with the “Encyclopedia of Heaven” in 1999.

Miriam Van Scott. Photo provided

Over the course of her career, Van Scott has provided content for the History Channel, Sy-Fy, The Learning Channel, ABC News, Paramount Entertainment Group, and others, and she has written more books. Her research into the afterlife yielded more material than could ever fit into the “Encyclopedia,” and she recently revisited some of that content for her latest book, a young adult novel titled “Bandun Gate” (Dark Stroke, 2022).

Van Scott’s research and writing about the dark side of things makes her a popular podcast guest, especially around Halloween. We recently talked to her about what it means to be an authority on Hell.

How did you come to write the “Encyclopedia of Hell”?

I was researching an article about afterlife beliefs—pre-internet, and it took forever. Finding the specific information I needed required digging through dozens of sources—religious texts, myth stories, art studies, pop culture works, movie books, etc. I kept thinking how much easier it would be if there was a single source that encompassed Hell interpretations across all different categories. A reference book like that didn’t exist, so I wrote one.

What was the research like for that book?

Encyclopedia of Hell was compiled when the internet was still in its infancy, so most of the research was done via original sources and interviews. I spoke with exorcists, former cult members, clerics of many different faiths, artists, authors, film directors, law enforcement and others who had something to contribute. My favorite interview was with Clive Barker, author and director of the films “Hellraiser,” “Candyman,” “Books of Blood,” etc. He gave me some fascinating insight on why people are obsessed with the underworld, and when “Encyclopedia of Hell” was published, he even sent me a nice handwritten “congratulations” note.

You have said in interviews that some of your interviewees cautioned you on delving into such topics? What were their warnings, and do you do anything to protect yourself?

While I was researching the encyclopedia, several people warned me that delving into such dark subject matter could have ugly consequences. A detective who investigated “Satanic” crimes said the details and photos he was sharing would likely give me nightmares. They did. And a priest advised me against toying with Ouija boards or “conjure” rituals, noting that lighthearted experimentation offers the perfect “in” for demons hoping to wreak havoc. Friends and family simply worried that spending so much time learning about tortures of the damned would take an emotional toll. My strategy for dealing with these perils was to limit the time I spent on the truly horrific stuff, have as little interaction as possible with anything provocative, and pray often.

Was there anything in the research that surprised you?

One of the biggest surprises was how willing people were to share their own personal, often graphic stories about practicing witchcraft, seeing ghosts, indulging in “demonic” orgies and other disturbing behaviors. It amazed me how, when I told people I was writing a book about Hell, the response I often got was, “Have I got a story for you!” followed by eye-popping accounts, most of which I couldn’t use in the book for a variety of reasons. On the other side of the spectrum were those who looked at me like I was psychotic when they learned of my book’s topic. One woman even suggested I undergo past life regression therapy to determine if I’d been a serial killer in a past life.

You moved to Charleston, South Carolina, a city you have called "haunted." Was the move intentional because of the area's history?

Our family began vacationing in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1997. We loved everything about the city, including its eerie history. I’ve always enjoyed exploring the area and discovering the dark secrets hidden in Charleston’s shadows. Getting up close and personal with the ghosts was definitely part of the draw that brought us here.

The cover of your latest book, “Bandun Gate,” says it is "inspired by true events," can you tell us about that?

Photo of the gate in the woods of South Carolina that Miriam Van Scott came across during a hike. Photo by Miriam Van Scott

In addition to using real interviews and data from my Encyclopedia of Hell research, “Bandun Gate” also incorporates actual people and events into the storyline. These include a Charleston woman who was so evil no cemetery would agree to accept her body for burial, Gullah legends of ghosts who steal and “wear” the bodies of unsuspecting victims, and an actual gate I came across that was constructed to keep out evil spirits. The overall plotline involving my daughter being in terrible danger was inspired by a frightening phone call informing me she’d been kidnapped and would be dismembered then sent back to me in pieces.

Oh, no! Is she ok?

Yes, she is okay! At the time I got the call Abigail had been kidnapped, she was working as a jail guard, and there were some pretty hardened criminals and gang members who threatened her on a regular basis. Luckily the abduction turned out to be a hoax. She is doing well and currently works in law enforcement in the Charleston area.

What are you working on now?

I’m currently working on a young adult suspense novel about a 16-year-old girl who claims her younger brother has a very unusual paranormal ability. Their father thinks it’s a delusion she’s invented to cope with her mother’s death. When the boy is implicated in the death of one child and disappearance of another, the family’s dark secrets are revealed, forcing them to deal with the disturbing fallout.

To learn more about Van Scott’s work, visit her website at miriamvanscott.com.

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College of Humanities and Social Sciences

English Department

Oct22HPT

From the Archives: First Komodo Dragons in U.S. Hatch on Mason Campus

Colleen Rich — Thu, 11 Aug 2022 13:00:36 +0000

From the Archives: First Komodo Dragons in U.S. Hatch on Mason Campus Colleen Rich Thu, 08/11/2022 - 09:00

This story ran in the October 30, 1992, print edition of the Mason Gazette.

Mason biologist Geoffrey Birchard with five-week-old Komodo dragon. Photo by Jessie Cohen, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution

In the movie “The Freshman,” Matthew Broderick agrees to deliver a Komodo dragon, a rare and endangered lizard, to Marlon Brando—illegally. ��AV biology professor Geoffrey Birchard has also had Komodo dragons delivered to him—but legally, as part of a joint project with the National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C.

Birchard, a herpetologist, was called on by the zoo's curator of herpetology, Dale Marcellini, last January to incubate 10 of the 26 eggs that were the result of a monthlong courtship between the zoo's two 10-year-old lizards. The adult lizards had been given to the zoo in 1988 by the ambassador of lndonesia.

During the eight-month incubation period, several eggs died, but on Sept. 13, in one of the university's labs, the first dragon hatched out of his leathery-shelled egg. Twelve others quickly followed their brother's lead. Two more are still to go.

''Everyone here is beaming with pride," says Marcellini.

Marcellini turned to ��AV because he literally did not want to put all his eggs in one basket and wished to avoid potential disasters, like electricity failure or fire, that could destroy the eggs. And George Mason had higher-quality incubators.

The university's eggs hatched first because they were kept at a slightly higher temperature. which accelerated the process.

“Things went extremely well," says Birchard. ''We're looking forward to doing other projects [with the zoo] as well."

This is not the first time Birchard has been involved with the National Zoological Park. Over the past five years, he has served as a consultant for the zoo. And in return the zoo has donated surplus eggs—including those of pythons and milk snakes—to Birchard for his research on the physiology of developing animals.

Baby lizard comes out of his shell with some help from a friend. Photo by Jessie Cohen, National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Institution

During the dragons' incubation period, he performed metabolic studies on the embryos, recording the gas exchange between the eggs and the environment.

“This proved to be quite an experience," says Birchard. “Every day for the past eight months l had to come in to make sure the eggs were okay. But professionally, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

When born Komodo dragons, whose natural habitat is the Komodo and Flores islands, off the coast of Indonesia, are about 8 to 16 inches long and weigh up to 4 ounces. Their yellow, brown, and black skin is heavily patterned with chevron and circle markings—and yes, they have a forked tongue. Gradually their striking skin turns a uniform gray and eventually they can weigh as much as 300 pounds and reach a length of more than 10 feet, making them the world's largest lizards. The National Zoological Park is the first only other place in North America where place to breed the lizard outside of Indonesia.

At present, all the young Komodo dragons are back at the zoo, happily feeding on mice and insects. A few are already on display at the Reptile House.

"These guys are Iike scaly pandas when it comes to getting people excited," says Marcellini.

Plans are being discussed to send some of the babies to other zoos and to loan the female adult dragon to the Cincinnati Zoo, the only other place in North America where Komodo dragons are kept.

The Mason Gazette, University and Student Publications, #R0128, Special Collections Research Center, ��AV Libraries.

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Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

From the Archives

Oct22HPT

Komodo dragons

Students in forensic figure sculpting class make portraits from the inside out

Melanie Balog — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 19:40:38 +0000

Students in forensic figure sculpting class make portraits from the inside out Melanie Balog Mon, 06/06/2022 - 15:40

Joe Mullins loves his job. In fact, he loves it so much that he has been sharing his skills as an adjunct in ��AV’s School of Art and the Forensic Science Program with the hope of inspiring the next generation of forensic artists.

For more than 22 years, Mullins has worked as a forensic imaging specialist at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). For a decade, he has been teaching a Facial Reconstruction class to graduate students in Mason’s Forensic Science Program. This spring semester, for the first time at Mason, he taught a forensic figure sculpting class.

A student works on a clay self-portrait in the class. Photo by DeRon Rockingham, Creative Services

The 15 students in the special topics course started the semester with a generic plastic skull. Week by week, they sculpted different parts of their own faces, creating a portrait of themselves in clay and learning the forensic skills needed to put a face on a skull.

“Basically, it's a portrait class,” said Mullins, “but you're doing a self-portrait from the inside out.”

Since 2007, Mullins has been teaching a more comprehensive version of this course at the New York Academy of Art. The difference is the academy students are working on an actual cold case from unidentified remains, which have been analyzed and 3D printed.

“They are active cases,” said Mullins of the New York workshop. “So those students get a sense of the pressure to get it right.”

The Mason course is meant to give interested students a chance to try out forensic art and learn more about facial structures.

“It's an opportunity for these students to broaden their horizons,” said Mullins, who has a background in fine arts and worked as a graphic designer before discovering forensic art. “One of my teachers [during my undergraduate degree] said, ‘If you're gonna be an artist, you have to know what's going on underneath the skin before you can draw or paint what's on top.”

Mullins calls his class a “crash course on what a skull is telling you.” The students are not just learning to sculpt, some for the first time, they are also getting an introduction to forensic science and anatomy. In addition to teaching the students specifics like tissue depth, Mullins also goes over some case studies with the class, bringing in skulls he has worked on during the course of his career.

“This is hands down the coolest class I have taken at Mason,” said art major Sophia Truxell-Svenson, whose concentration is in drawing. “I was nervous at the start of class because I'm definitely not a sculptor, but Professor Mullins has broken down the whole process into clear steps and is always there if we have questions.”

A student works on a clay portrait in Joe Mullins' Forensic Scuplture class. Photo by DeRon Rockingham, Creative Services

Truxell-Svenson, a junior, took the class to gain a better understanding of facial proportions and because she has had an interest in forensic art since seeing a Smithsonian Institution exhibit that showed the full process from blank skull to sculpted face.

“It was so cool to see how artists were able to give someone back their face, even hundreds of years later,” she said. “The bones had a story to tell, and the artists were able to bring those stories to life.”

Mason anthropology graduate student Veronica Hughes, who is focusing on bioarchaeology and forensics in her studies, took the class because she is interested in using her education in the forensics field.

“I have really enjoyed the systematic process required in reconstructing a face based on skeletal information,” said Hughes, who has a bachelor’s degree in studio art. “Seeing where applications from science and art join together has helped me to understand how delicate the process is toward producing an accurate reconstruction of a victim that people can identify.”

Hughes said she was also fascinated by what she learned about facial muscle placement and tissue depth in the class.

“On the bioarchaeology side, we mostly are studying skeletal remains to determine the individual's possible identification in life,” said Hughes. “Realizing how much soft tissue decomposes has been informative and will help me in my work.”

Mullins is offering the class again in the fall and also working on creating additional courses that tackle the topics such as age progression and composite drawing. The long-term goal is developing a graduate certificate in forensic arts. Right now, the only place to get this kind of training is at the University of Dundee in Scotland.

Mullins believes Mason has the perfect combination of resources for such a certificate program with its well-regarded programs in forensic science, anthropology and art, and its partnership with FARO Technologies, an industry leader in high-tech 3D measurement and imaging.

“You have to be a fine artist before you can be a forensic artist,’” said Mullins, “But it is my hope that these artists taking the class might find forensic art a superpower they haven't used yet or didn’t know they had.”

Joe Mullins shows students in his Forensic Sculpture class details about facial reconstruction. Photo by DeRon Rockingham, Creative Services

Honey bees and their honey could be a big help in solving police cases

John Hollis — Tue, 18 Jan 2022 19:33:20 +0000

Honey bees and their honey could be a big help in solving police cases John Hollis Tue, 01/18/2022 - 14:33

An unlikely collaboration between ��AV’s Honey Bee Initiative and the new outdoor Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory could yield critical advances in forensic science.

^{Mason teams from a number of different fields are working in unison at the Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, Virginia, on an ambitious project to see if the honey produced by bees after feeding on flowers can help them better locate missing persons.}

^{“The focus of forensics is to solve cases,” said Mary Ellen O’Toole, the head of the Forensic Science Program within Mason’s College of Science and a former FBI profiler. “Outdoor crime scenes have always posed a challenge to investigators, particularly identifying the location of human remains. The bee research will allow us to scientifically demonstrate that identifying bee activity in bee farms or in the wild and analyzing their proteins can help lead investigators to human remains. In this case, the bees are our new partners in crime fighting, and that’s amazing science.”}

Volunteers plant perennials at the Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory in support of ongoing research to determine if traces of human remains can be identified in the plants or in the honey produced by pollinators.
Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

Proteins in bee honey contain biochemical information about what the bees have fed upon. That information has previously been used to detect the chemical signature of pesticides in honey, allowing observers to deduce what specific types of pesticides were being used within the five-mile radius from the hives that honey bees typically frequent.

Similarly, O’Toole and her team believe that volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of human decomposition might likewise be found in bee honey, allowing authorities to then triangulate where missing human remains might be located. That ability could ultimately help spare grieving families additional extended angst while also saving thousands of hours in the search for a missing person.

“If we can determine what the VOCs are for humans and differentiate that from other animals, we could then use the bees and their honey as sentinels, and, hopefully, find missing persons and solve cases,” said Anthony Falsetti, an associate professor of forensic science.

Their belief is based on the premise that flowering plants near dead bodies will uptake the VOCs before being fed upon by the bees and ultimately being deposited in their honey.

Alessandra Luchini, an associate professor within Mason’s Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM), has perfected a method to extract proteins from the honey. She and Lance Liotta, a University Professor and CAPMM co-founder and co-director, have been involved with the project from the outset, following the idea’s origins at one of the monthly research meetings with the Forensic Science Program.

Honey bees are very specific in the kinds of flowers to which they’re attracted. Doni Nolan, Mason’s Greenhouse and Gardens sustainability program manager from the School of Integrative Studies within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, applied her expertise to the project, choosing the right flowers to plant within the specific one-acre section of the newly opened Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory that will house the remains of human donors in a heavily wooded area. The honey bee hive on the SciTech Campus is located several hundred yards away from the Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory.

Volunteers prepare to plant flowers at the Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory. Photo by Shelby Burgess/Strategic Communications

In November, students and researchers planted several different species of plants, which bear highly scented white and yellow blossoms, near the spots where the human remains will soon be displayed. Additional plants native to this area will be planted in the spring before the first honey samples are examined, Nolan said.

“You’re trying to see if the honey and the bees can help us find a body and solve a homicide,” said Nolan, who has a biology degree from Mason and is working on a PhD in biosciences.

The five-acre, Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory opened in early 2021, making Mason just the eighth location in the world capable of performing transformative outdoor research in forensic science using human donors and the only one in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Donation of human remains to the research facility will come through the Virginia State Anatomical Program (VSAP), which is a part of the Virginia Department of Health. Go here to learn more about donating your body to science.

Mason also entered a partnership with FARO Technologies, Inc. that resulted in the world’s first FARO-certified forensic laboratory.

In addition to those in the Forensic Science Program, the multidisciplinary project also includes the caretakers of the honey bees, as well as researchers and students from CAPMM, as well as from the Department of Environmental Science and Policy within the College of Science and Office of Sustainability, all of whom helped select the plants for the research design.

Learn more about Forensic Science at Mason

Learn more about Mason's Honey Bee Initiative

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Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory

Honey Bee Initiative

College of Science

Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM)

School of Integrative Studies

College of Humanities and Social Sciences

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Oct22HPT

Zombie crab research and their effects on the Chesapeake Bay

Colleen Rich — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 16:11:27 +0000

Zombie crab research and their effects on the Chesapeake Bay Colleen Rich Thu, 10/28/2021 - 12:11

It’s the stuff of nightmares and horror movies: Tiny estuarine mud crabs become infected with an invasive parasite that takes over their bodies and brains. But it isn’t fiction, and Mason’s team of researchers is learning more about these invaders and how they impact the ecology of our region.

Invasive parasite research at Mason’s Potomac Science Center

The white-fingered mud crabs (Rhithropanopeus harrisii) and two diabolical parasites are the focus of research being conducted at ��AV’s Potomac Science Center. Amy Fowler, assistant professor of invertebrate ecology, aquatic ecology, parasitology and invasions leads the research, working with Environmental Science and Policy graduate students Darby Pochtar and Sarah Greenberg, and several Office of Scholarship, Creative Activities, and Research (OSCAR) students.

One parasite, a rhizocephalan barnacle (Loxothylacus panopaei), grows root-like structures inside the crabs, eventually castrating them. It even erupts through the abdomen of the crab, just like in the movie Alien, creating a mass on the crab’s underside that is pure parasite.

“We call it a zombie crab at this point because they are essentially no longer part of the crab population,” says Pochtar, who is working on a PhD in environmental science and public policy. “They are only producing more parasites.”

It’s is good at what it does, says Fowler. The infected zombie crabs serve as vessels for the barnacle's reproduction, providing the parasite with a mobile host.

The second parasite that Fowler’s team is investigating is an isopod parasite (Cancrion sp.), related to a roly-poly, or pill bug. However, Greenberg and Pochtar have found that, in the mud crabs, this parasite no longer resembles their terrestrial cousin but instead looks more like a mucus blob.

“There's not a lot of literature on isopod parasites,” says Greenberg, who is working on an MS in environmental science and public policy. “They haven’t been documented in this host in the Chesapeake Bay, so a lot of the work that Darby and I are doing is trying to figure out what this parasite is. We think that it is also a castrator.”

The team says that the crabs can host both parasites at the same time, and those infected with the isopod can be infected by more than one. In fact, Greenberg and Pochtar have found as many as five female isopod parasites in one tiny mud crab.

Parasite invaders and the impact on local waters

“Part of our work is investigating the invasion of the barnacle parasite from its native range in the Gulf of Mexico to the Chesapeake Bay and how that negatively impacted crab populations," says Fowler, who teaches in the Department of Environmental Science and Policy in Mason’s College of Science.

“I think the big story here is invasions—the movement of organisms from one place to another, and what happens next."

The mud crabs are native along the eastern United States from Canada to Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. The parasitic barnacle is native to the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida panhandle and started showing up in the Chesapeake Bay in the 1960s. Fowler says that genetic tests confirm that it is the same barnacle.

A popular hypothesis pins the origins of this invasion on the oyster industry. Live oysters were brought to the Chesapeake Bay from the Gulf of Mexico, Fowler says. Parasitized mud crabs, and probably other organisms, were able to “hitchhike,” a term used in the field to describe how invasive species could travel from place to place, in or on the oysters and to the bay.

And these mud crabs love oysters, living around and on their shells. “When the Chesapeake Bay oyster fishery collapsed, they started importing oysters to rebuild it,” says Fowler, who is also a research associate with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland. “So there were probably hitchhikers in those oysters when they put them in the bay, and some of those mud crabs were probably parasitized. It spread to the crabs in the bay because they are the same species.”

Unlike other types of parasites that need two or more hosts to complete their life cycle, the parasitic barnacle studied here requires only the crab host, which helped enable the successful introduction. And invasions are nearly impossible to control.

These parasites travel in water as nearly microscopic larvae, looking for a host. During the early part of the invasion, the parasite took advantage of naïve crabs and were very successful, parasitizing up to 90 percent of some crab populations in the bay, according to Fowler.

While people don’t eat the small mud crabs, Fowler and other researchers are thinking ahead to how parasites can wreak havoc on the food chain and potentially to commercial fisheries. The implications would truly be a nightmare, especially for the Chesapeake Bay.

A sister species to the barnacle parasite Fowler studies infects and castrates blue crabs in the Gulf of Mexico. If that parasite were to successfully invade the Chesapeake Bay, “the implications for the blue crab fishery are astronomical, because [the population] has already been depleted,” says Fowler.

"We try to think of this invasion as a model— if that were to happen [to a species like the blue crab], what could happen?”

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Potomac Science Center

Institute for a Sustainable Earth (ISE)

Oct22HPT

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The Potomac Science Center is a destination for environmental science research along the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

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American Society of Criminology recognizes Laurie O. Robinson’s career achievements

Colleen Rich — Wed, 04 Aug 2021 14:30:56 +0000

American Society of Criminology recognizes Laurie O. Robinson’s career achievements Colleen Rich Wed, 08/04/2021 - 10:30

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Laurie O. Robinson. Photo by Lathan Goumas/Strategic Communications

She’s newly retired, but the honors continue to pour in for in ��AV’s Laurie O. Robinson following an exemplary career of service in the criminal justice field.

Robinson, who spent the past nine years at Mason as a Clarence J. Robinson Professor of Criminology, Law and Society before stepping aside from her teaching duties at the end of the just-completed spring semester, has been selected by the American Society of Criminology as the recipient of the 2021 Herbert Bloch Award, which recognizes “outstanding service contributions to the American Society of Criminology and to the professional interests of criminology.”

Robinson, who will continue to be involved in an emerita role with Mason’s Center for Evidence-Based Crime Policy in the Department of Criminology, Law and Society within the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, will be formally recognized at the ASC annual meeting in Chicago in November.

“I am very honored and really thrilled,” she said. “To be recognized by colleagues in the criminology field makes me feel extremely honored and touched.”

It’s just the latest honor bestowed upon Robinson, who co-chaired President Obama’s White House Task Force on 21st Century Policing and twice served as an Assistant Attorney General for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs before coming to Mason.

Cynthia Lum, University Professor of Criminology, Law and Society and the director of the CECP, nominated Robinson for the award.

“Laurie Robinson’s contributions to criminal justice cannot be overstated,” said James Willis, chair of the Department of Criminology, Law and Society. “Her career has been devoted to a vision for criminal justice reform founded on rigorous scientific evidence, and one that advances fundamental democratic values such as justice, fairness and equality.”

Willis lauded Robinson for her ability to “tirelessly and expertly” navigate the often-perilous waters of the policy and academic worlds to achieve the best outcomes possible.

“She brought this same vision and work ethic to the Department of Criminology, Law and Society, and particularly to its new MS program in Criminal Justice,” Willis said. “She was instrumental in helping create an innovative graduate learning experience, and her teaching of the capstone course introduced CLS students to the possibilities and pitfalls of meaningful reform. An important feature of her impressive legacy will include shaping the next generation of criminal justice leaders. I can think of no one more deserving of this award.”

Robinson said she’s long taken pride in that ability to have all parties keep the big picture in mind.

“I’ve always been in the policy world, but I cherish my relationships with academia,” she said.

Podcast - EP16: Into the eyes of a murderer

Kristin Heydt — Fri, 29 Jan 2021 17:40:58 +0000

Podcast - EP16: Into the eyes of a murderer Kristin Heydt Fri, 01/29/2021 - 12:40

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What's it like to interview a mass murderer? Professor Mary Ellen O'Toole, a former FBI profiler, fills us in on that and Mason's new Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory, which will be one of only eight in the U.S. to use donor remains for forensic research.

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Podcast Episode

podcast

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human remains

Oct22HPT

Mason to unveil its new Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory

John Hollis — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 10:30:00 +0000

Mason to unveil its new Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory John Hollis Tue, 11/24/2020 - 05:30

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The opening of ��AV’s new Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory in the Spring 2021 semester establishes Mason as a leader in forensic anthropology and investigations and a valuable community partner with law enforcement.

With the addition of the new five-acre facility on its Science and Technology Campus in Manassas, Virginia, Mason becomes just the eighth location in the world capable of performing transformative outdoor research in forensic science using human donors.

The facility will offer a unique learning experience for Mason students, allowing them to perform cutting-edge forensic science research pertinent to the criminal justice system while developing highly sought-after skills as career-ready graduates.

The lab will also serve as a proving ground for technological advances in applied forensic sciences. The transdisciplinary collaboration is housed within Mason’s College of Science and administered by the Forensic Science Program.

Mary Ellen O’Toole, the director of the Forensic Science Program and a former FBI profiler, called the new facility an “incredible initiative that will distinguish Mason in the field of forensic science and related sciences for years to come.”

“Our vision is to be interdisciplinary and collaborative in our pursuit of the latest high-tech and hands-on course work for our students to set a new bar for a wide range of research, from scent dog/chemistry research to determining the postmortem interval that is relevant to our unique environment,” she said.

The laboratory will receive its first human remains late in the spring semester. It is dedicated to studying the processes of human decomposition in various conditions for the purposes of solving crimes.

This will include the examination of environmental changes, soil composition, animal scavenging, floral diversity and insect species variations. This information will be used for medical-legal applications and law enforcement training.

“Having such a unique facility here at George Mason will allow our students to use their creativity to explore operational-based research that will help us identify the unidentified, locate clandestine graves, assist in unbiased prosecutions and exonerate the innocent,” said Anthony Falsetti, an associate professor of Forensic Science.

The laboratory will serve as a focal point where local, state and national law enforcement agencies can learn to identify the unidentified and help solve crimes.

“We’ve significantly invested in our innovative Forensic Science program at Mason to offer students and partners access to unparalleled academic, research and training experiences,” said Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm, dean of the College of Science. “First the Crime Scene House and the DNA Lab offer authentic, hands-on experiential learning opportunities, now this Forensic Science Research Laboratory will present unique research opportunities and professional pathways with the D.C. federal agencies, military and law enforcement organizations in close proximity.”

Donations of human remains to the research facility will come through the Virginia State Anatomical Program (VSAP), a part of the Virginia Department of Health.

“This research opportunity affords us a unique opportunity to advance forensic science and develop a much deeper understanding of the environmental issues that affect human decomposition and the associated evidence that allow the science to tell the stories for those who can no longer speak for themselves,” said Maj. Christian P. Quinn, commander of the Cyber and Forensics Bureau for the Fairfax County Police Department.

The laboratory’s unique position near Washington, D.C. presents opportunities to partner with federal and state agencies and U.S. military organizations, such as the Virginia State Medical Examiner, Virginia Department of Forensic Sciences, University of Virginia’s Applied Biodynamics Laboratory, Prince William County Police, U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, the Smithsonian Institution, Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the Department of Homeland Security among others.

“This facility will be breaking ground, setting new standards, researching new forensic techniques and, ultimately, solving cases,” O’Toole said.

Detailed measures have been put in place to assure security and environmental integrity.

The University of Tennessee in Knoxville established the first outdoor human remains facility in 1981, followed by Texas State University, Sam Houston State University, Western Carolina University, Southern Illinois University, Colorado Mesa University and the University of South Florida.

Mason’s facility will be the only one in the mid-Atlantic region.

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College of Science

Forensic Science Program

Research

Oct22HPT

Popular Zombies class digs up history of the living dead

Colleen Rich — Fri, 30 Oct 2020 14:12:47 +0000

Popular Zombies class digs up history of the living dead Colleen Rich Fri, 10/30/2020 - 10:12

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For one group of ��AV students, the week leading up to Halloween has involved reading up on horror filmmaker George Romero and discussing zombies in the cinema. This isn’t just a spooky break from the regular curriculum—these students have spent the semester studying the undead in the course ANTH 314 Zombies.

More than 140 students are enrolled in the online anthropology class that “looks at the cultures where zombies and related folklore about the undead come from, and examines zombies from an ethnohistorical, medical anthropology, and anthropology of religion perspectives,” according to the syllabus.

This is the first time Cultural Studies doctoral student Terilee Edwards-Hewitt has taught the course, and she feels like it is the perfect fit for her background.

“The topic ties in with my interest in popular culture,” said Edwards-Hewitt, who has been teaching in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area for 15 years. “A big part of my current research is about popular culture in the United States, specifically fan cultures.”

Edwards-Hewitt worked on two different medical anthropology research projects while she was a research assistant at Howard University, and she has also taught the anthropology of religion at the University of Maryland. She believes both contribute to understanding zombies.

“Zombies touches on aspects of medical anthropology and anthropology of religion,” said Edwards-Hewitt. “To understand zombies, we need to look at how cultures define health, illness, life, and death.”

The class has also read about how enslaved people are involved in the zombie origins. The people who were enslaved who came West Africa had a cultural belief that was similar to zombies, but it involved someone capturing another’s spirit, said Edwards-Hewitt.

Among the enslaved people in Haiti and the Caribbean that idea moves closer to what we now recognize as a zombie.

“It later became that they—usually a bad sorcerer in the folktales—would control your body, so you have no agency,” said Edwards-Hewitt, who also devotes some of her time to Alexandria Archaeology Museum in Alexandria, Virginia.

The class also discusses zombies in popular culture and even has a week that focuses on the television show and graphic novel “The Walking Dead.” For a class project, students are expected to do a cultural analysis of two zombie movies from a list Edwards-Hewitt has compiled.

“I want the students to look at these films critically and discuss what it is saying about the culture,” she said.

When asked if she has any favorites in the zombie genre, Edwards-Hewitt mentions “Warm Bodies,” “28 Days Later,” and “Shaun of the Dead.”

“’Shaun of the Dead’ is a particularly good one,” she said. “There are so many cultural references in that movie, including references to consumer culture and terrorism. Something that is really interesting about zombies is how what they represent in U.S. culture has changed since they first entered the popular culture in the 1930s.”

“It would be so awesome to teach this class face to face [one day] because I would more easily show relevant clips from television and film to illustrate the points,” she said.

“Zombies are everywhere is popular culture, which makes sense since they help us to understand so many elements of the modern human condition,” said Amy L. Best, chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. “Students across disciplines are fascinated by the walking dead and what they represent, which is why we offer a course. If the zombie apocalypse is coming, I take heart in knowing at least our students will be well prepared for it.”

Alternate Light Five Times More Effective in Detecting Bruises on Victims of Color

dhawkin — Thu, 30 Apr 2020 16:10:07 +0000

Alternate Light Five Times More Effective in Detecting Bruises on Victims of Color dhawkin Thu, 04/30/2020 - 12:10

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Press Release
For Immediate Release

Contact
Michelle Thompson
mthomp7@gmu.edu
703-993-3485

As a consequence of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, rates of domestic abuse have increased. Improved procedures are needed to increase effectiveness of detecting bruises for people of color.

FAIRFAX, VA - Bruise detection and diagnosis is currently conducted by sight, under regular light, and bruises are often difficult to see on victims of violence depending on their skin color and the age of their injury.

As a result, individuals with dark skin tones are at a significant disadvantage in having their injuries properly identified and documented. This can have a significant impact on both medical and legal outcomes for victims of violence. For example, strangulation, a violent act often perpetrated during intimate partner violence, is now charged by many states as a felony. Detecting bruises associated with these dangerous offenses can provide important evidence towards prosecution.

A ��AV study led by Dr. Katherine Scafide found alternate light was five times better at detecting bruises on diverse skin tones.

To address the challenges of detecting bruises, Scafide and colleagues conducted a randomized control trial with 157 participants to test the effectiveness of an alternate light source at detecting bruises compared to commonly used white light. They also assessed the impact of skin color, age, gender, localized fat, and mode of injury on bruise detection. They found that using alternate light was five times better at detecting bruises on victims across a variety of skin tones than white light. Results of the study were published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.

“As domestic violence rates soar worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, we need innovative ways of capturing its effects on victims,” urges Dr. Katherine Scafide, a forensic nursing expert who led the randomized control trial at the College of Health and Human Services at ��AV. “Alternate light could be the tool towards addressing the disparity in detecting bruises across diverse populations.”

“Alternate light improves our ability to see bruises,” explains Scafide. “We need to implement this technology into the care of adult patients who have experience physical trauma, but only after evidence-based guidelines are developed and evaluated.”

Scafide cautions that alternate light can detect bruises but should not yet be used to diagnose bruises because other skin lesions (e.g., scars, hyperpigmentation) may appear similar when viewed using this technology. Alternate light should only be interpreted in conjunction with a history of injury and other physical assessment findings.

Scafide will continue this work with a new grant from the National Institute of Justice that will allow her to develop and evaluate evidence-based guidelines for implementing alternate light in the clinical assessment of bruises.

This study was supported by the National Institute of Justice grant 2016-DN-BX-0147. The opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Department of Justice.

About ��AV

��AV is Virginia's largest and most diverse public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls 38,000 students from 130 countries and all 50 states. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. For more information, visit https://www2.gmu.edu/.

About the College of Health and Human Services

��AV's College of Health and Human Services prepares students to become leaders and shape the public's health through academic excellence, research of consequence and interprofessional practice. The College enrolls 1,917 undergraduate students and 950 graduate students in its nationally recognized offerings, including: 5 undergraduate degrees, 12 graduate degrees, and 11 certificate programs. The College is transitioning to a college public health in the near future. For more information, visit https://chhs.gmu.edu/.

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As a consequence of COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, rates of domestic abuse have increased. Improved procedures are needed to increase effectiveness of detecting bruises for people of color.

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