NecroSearch integrates law enforcement investigative techniques and the documentation and preservation of evidence with scientific techniques. This section will describe how the group is called into a case and how we work together with law enforcement to search for remains.

Evidence at a crime scene may be destroyed, altered, or transported by animal behavior, including scavenging. Animal sign can be misleading or be a valuable source of information. This section will look at animal behavior and the recognition and interpretation of sign.

This section will cover some of the basics of the differentiation between human and nonhuman bone, as well as materials easily mistaken for bone.

You will learn what plants can reveal about a scene; how to collect and preserve specimens, what specific information is needed about the scene if a botanist is asked to interpret the plants. You will get a chance to put your new found knowledge to work while investigating several “crime scenes” at NecroSearchs research facility.

This portion of the class will cover hydrologic and meteorologic considerations, as many factors related to local characteristics weather, water bodies, watersheds, drainage, and groundwater may be important in investigations.

A geologic understanding of the environment of a grave can aid law enforcement in the location of that grave and to the development of ideas relating to the circumstances surrounding grave construction. An appreciation of some of geology's fundamental principles can contribute to the definition of the context of a crime scene or to the overall setting of other forensic investigations. Field practices and standard geologic tools and methodologies utilized by geologists in their routine professional practice are readily adaptable and applicable to a wide range of forensic problems.

Geophysical techniques (particular