Forensic Research

Ed Mondor has been studying the behavior of insects for over 15 years. Just a few years ago, the biology professor found himself studying crop damage caused by aphids in the Hawaiian Islands. For the past two years, he has been applying his knowledge of insect behavior in the fields of South Georgia by launching a new area of research at Georgia Southern – forensic entomology.

Forensic entomologists study the life cycles of insects colonizing decomposing remains, putting together all of the puzzle pieces to help law enforcement officials determine an approximate time of death when a body is found. Mondor, a member of the North American Forensic Entomologists Association, provides students with hands-on experience at two undisclosed field sites near Statesboro, the only such locations in the state.

While there are five “body farms” in the United States (with donated human bodies), Georgia Southern’s students collect insects from stillborn pigs to study and identify the species found on the carcasses. “Pigs are the best models. They closely resemble human flesh and have very little hair. Insects lay their eggs on them the same as human cadavers,” explained Mondor.

In the complex world of forensic entomology, students learn the importance of this field: insects can capture criminals, meaning the difference between a guilty or not guilty verdict.

“Collecting insects off of a body and determining their age can tell you approximately how long a person has been dead, and determining the post-mortem interval is crucial in a criminal case. When an alibi is questionable, a timeline can be constructed,” he said, describing how he uses insects to construct an approximate time since death to the time of a body’s discovery. “People lie…insects don’t.”

The role of a forensic entomologist has become increasingly popular thanks to television’s “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” While rewarding, the field isn’t as glamorous as it appears on screen. “People see it on TV, but in the real world it’s a different story. It’s a lot of hard, dirty work,” said Mondor.

Mondor revealed that typical forensic entomology research ends when the insects leave the carcass. “We take it one step farther by studying the weathering of the bones.” Colleague Dan Williams, a vertebrate paleontologist, is collaborating with Mondor to investigate how bones age in south Georgia. Bones change colors during the decomposition process, going from an orange/brown hue to white, and also undergoing cracking and splintering due to moisture and temperature differences. “Beetles have also been known to make divots in the bones,” Williams said. After decomposition is complete and only the bones remain, a time of death is still necessary. “We still want to know how long a person’s bones have been there,” he added.

So far, the researchers have discovered that the decomposition process differs during the summer and winter seasons. “The process of decomposition is very complex,” said Williams and Mondor agreed. “In the summer, because of the extreme heat, complete decomposition can happen within a matter of days, and in the winter, it can take weeks for total decomposition.”

One of the active participants, senior biology major Abigail Lee, is pursuing another avenue of research – the rate of decomposition when a body is placed in a plastic bag. Lee’s findings indicate that the decomposition of stillborn pigs is slower when a body is contained in a plastic bag. “Flies were found on exposed carcasses within hours, but we didn’t find flies on bagged pigs for about a week and a half. That can make a huge difference when trying to determine the time of death.”

During the winter research, Lee was busy collecting flies from her pig carcasses. “I collected more than 1,200 flies over a 29-day period, and I am now in the process of identifying all of the different species,” she said, explaining that she will eventually compare winter vs. summer seasonal figures.

Another interesting aspect of the research, said Mondor, is that the number of fly species in the winter outpaces those collected during the summer. “So far, our research indicates that over 95 percent of the flies in the summer are one species, and while we are still identifying our recently collected samples, we have already found multiple species during the winter,” he revealed.

The future of forensic entomology at Georgia Southern is promising. According to Mondor, Georgia Southern is the only university in the state to conduct this type of field research, and the team plans to continue by exploring decomposition during the fall and spring seasons. Other prospects include possible research collaborations with nearby Ogeechee Tech’s forensic science program students.

“No one else in the state of Georgia is conducting forensic entomology research – even the GBI, because it is cost-prohibitive,” he said. “We have an untapped niche here at Georgia Southern.”