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Young Forensic Scientists Forum Newsletter - July 2000 Entomology
Uncovered (Why I Chose to Dig Around in Dead, Decomposing Humans to
Collect Nasty Maggots) |
| In
Memory of Dr. Lamar Meeks Recently my former high school published an alumni directory. It listed the whos, whats, whens, and wheres of everyone they could find who had graduated from the school. Beside my name it says "PhD Student." Not very descriptive. If it listed what I really do, most of the people who went to high school with me would be utterly amazed, possibly even repulsed. You see, I came to the discipline of forensic entomology by what you might call a rather indirect route. It all started when I naively believed what the college recruiters were telling me. Engineering was supposed to be the place to be. So, off I went to the University of Tennessee at Knoxville to enter the Nuclear Engineering program. My fascination with nuclear engineering was relatively short lived. A summer internship at a nuclear power facility proved to me that I needed a career where my hands would be dirtied with something other than pencil lead. At the time, I met the man who would become my husband, Erick, and with his support I changed my major to Animal Science without a single clue as to what I would do with the degree once I got it. Erick and I were married and shortly afterward it became apparent that money was a large issue in the decision to continue our education. We found support in Erick's home state of Louisiana and so we moved there to finish our bachelor's degrees. Animal science was not an offered major at Northeast Louisiana University (now Louisiana University at Monroe), so we entered the closest degree program there — agribusiness. Economics, record keeping, accounting, and managerial skills combined with pesticide training, crop management, and animal science. What in the world was I going to do with this degree?!? At the time I was so burned out that I didn't really care. I just wanted to get my degree and get out. Summer 1996 arrived and I needed a job. I only had one more semester left to finish my degree, so I began interviewing with agricultural chemical companies for summer work in the hopes that it would lead to a more permanent position after graduation. DowElanco (now DowAgrosciences) hired me to work with a Field Research Entomologist by the name of Barbara Nead. The insect deities had stepped in and put me on a path that I had never imagined possible. Barb was one tough cookie and under her tutelage I soon learned the very basics of entomology, particularly as related to cotton. I was fascinated. I had never dreamed of such diversity in such a small space, and it had been before my very eyes all of my life. As it happened, Barb and I spent quite a lot of time on the road together. She utilized these captive audience hours to berate me about my decision to go to work after graduation. I assured her that after working for a while to give myself a break from school, I would go back to school and get my master's degree. She assured me that I wouldn't. By the time classes resumed in the fall, she had planted a seed in my mind that refused to die. During that last semester of my bachelor's degree I became aware of a master's level assistantship being offered at Mississippi State University (MSU). The department —Entomology. The bug gods were calling to me again. I entered MSU's Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology in January 1997. My project was in row crop entomology, and I learned more in those two years than I had in most of my life; certainly more than in undergraduate school, and I never tired of the pursuit of more knowledge concerning these fascinating creatures. The time finally came when I had to decide what to do after completion of my master's degree. At this point, one thing was clear. I would go on to get a PhD in Entomology. However, I wasn't sure what discipline I wanted to enter. Row crop entomology had given me an excellent foundation on which to stand, but it wasn't something that I wanted to do forever. There were animal bugs and tree bugs and rose bugs and vegetable bugs and home bugs and…I didn't want to study any of them. It was around this time of indecision that a dear friend of mine, Dr. Douglas Gaydon, extension veterinary entomologist for the state of Mississippi, began to tease me about maggots. "Eeww! You've got to be kidding me!" Dead people bugs. I wasn't fond of the idea of digging around in dead, decomposing humans to collect nasty maggots. He had to be joking. But, he did get a rise out of me the first time he mentioned it, so he kept pushing. I summarily shoved the notion aside and continued my search for a future area of entomological expertise. However, the longer and harder I searched for my calling, the clearer it became that I wasn't finding it. Then one day I really thought about this thing called forensic entomology. I love a good mystery. And I love true crime novels. And I can't resist a puzzle. Of course, that didn't mean that I would like digging in human goo. So, I set about to discover a bit more about forensic entomology, and a bit more about myself. I first looked to the Internet and found a good deal of very general information there including case studies. So, I read them. And I read them while eating lunch. And I read them while eating rice. No problem. Next step. I needed to look at some still photographs. So, I attended a talk given by Dr. Lamar Meek of Louisiana State University entitled "A Bug, A Body, A Movie!" The slides were gruesome. Many members of the audience were inclined to leave before the conclusion of the presentation. However, I was pleasantly unaffected. I watched the "movie" portion of Dr. Meek's presentation, which was an interesting little piece that should have been entitled "How Not to Collect Entomological Evidence." No problem. Next step. Dr. Meek was teaching a forensic entomology section during an annual training session for Mississippi's wildlife and fisheries officers. They would be examining and collecting maggots and beetles from several deer that had been laid out for up to 14 days in the Mississippi summer sun. Dr. Meek graciously allowed me to join the group and even took the obligatory photograph of me with my first double handful of writhing, fat, white maggots. A few of those big burly guys with guns were less than enthusiastic about our endeavor. I was fine. I actually enjoyed it. No problem. So, I decided that I really could do it. Not only that, but it was something that I actually wanted to do. My husband needed a PhD program in Agricultural Economics and I needed one in Forensic Entomology. A rather tall order indeed. We made the list of schools that would meet our needs. It was not a very long list. At the top was Purdue University, the place where Neal Haskell became the first person to be specifically trained as a forensic entomologist. What better place to be? We applied, were accepted, and began the arduous task of moving from Mississippi to Indiana. As we arrived, I knew that I could dig in a dead deer without much trouble. My next opportunity to encounter goo would be the annual workshop put on by Dr. Haskell at his farm. After two days of digging in pigs, I was still fine and still fascinated. I spent time in Neal's lab and looked at the files on several old cases. I decided pretty soon that there must be something wrong with me since I had this sick fascination with dead and decomposing people. Then I realized that I wasn't fascinated with the victims, but rather with their cases, with the stories behind what got them into the situations that I saw in the pictures that I held in my hands. What happened? My drive to pursue this path was stronger than ever. Then, the day arrived. The phone rang on a Saturday midmorning. "There is a body in the next county. They want some help. Can you make it?" I was in the truck and on my way in moments flat. I met them at the morgue and did the collections from the body myself. That was the last piece of confirmation that I needed. I had collected maggots from a dead body, and I had survived! I have now been in my PhD program for one year and have spent much of that year in Dr. Haskell's lab. I have gruesome hours of coursework ahead of me in the medical school, entomology, sociology, and even atmospheric science. I have three years or more worth of research to do and a paper to write that could sink a ship. But when I finish, I will be doing something that I truly love. I never would have imagined 10 years ago, or even five, that I would be where I am today. Life has a funny way of turning you upside down, spinning you around, and spitting you out someplace completely different than you were before. Ain't life grand? |
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© 1999 Young Forensic Scientists Forum / American Academy of Forensic Sciences |