CSI: Mankato

Minnesota State professor Dr. Kathleen T. Blue is hosting a two-day Crime Scene Recovery Workshop. Law enforcement, emergency medical personnel, coroners, MSU students and members of the public are invited to participate.
The workshop is Aug. 12 and 13. Blue, a biological anthropologist, will teach the workshop. She has analyzed human remains both modern and ancient in Minnesota for more than 10 years.
Participants in the workshop will learn how to use proper methods to investigate a crime scene where human bone may be present. This will include recovering and preserving evidence.
Amanda Hirmer, who took the workshop a few years ago, said “The first day you’re in a classroom and [Blue] goes over the information that is relevant to a crime scene. The second day you’re out in the field. She has grounds crew bury plastic skeletons.”
Participants will also learn how to tell if bones are human or animal, how to conduct a site survey, how to handle and preserve skeletal material, map skeletal remains, excavate and collect bone.
“The workshop gave me a hands-on experience. The only thing it didn’t have are the smells. You need to be able to deal with the smell of a dead body to be in this field,” Hirmer said.
According to Hirmer, a Masters or a PhD. in forensic anthropology is needed to work on a crime scene.
Television shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Bones and Law and Order are not realistic.
“That’s nothing what it’s about. They show DNA being processed in 20 minutes. It’s much longer than that — it could take up to a month,” Hirmer said.
The workshop costs $450 and includes all materials and lunch both days of the workshop. Undergraduate students will get one credit for participating. The workshop also offers graduate credit and continuing education credit hours. A block of rooms have been reserved at AmericInn for out-of-town participants.

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