In Murder by Degrees\, Dr. Lydia Weston works alongside police to investigate the suspicious death of Anna Ward\, a young chambermaid found in the Schuylkill River. This event explo res the collaboration between medicolegal investigators and forensic scien tists in solving mysteries.
\nForensic anthropology\, the study of h uman skeletal material in criminal investigations\, was Kori&rsquo\;s firs t love in science\; initially enchanted with the poetic names of various s keletal features\, this first gateway opened up the larger scientific worl d of histology\, morphology and pattern recognition\, and taphonomy\, and eventually led to a lifelong career in forensic science. Kori will review her most favorite aspects of forensic anthropology including the analysis of human bone microscopy in age-at-death estimation\, human vs. non-human skeletal features of the skull and pelvis\, and some fun facts about anima l scavenging of human remains. She&rsquo\;ll also share some thoughts on w orking with the dead: the challenges and rewards of this unusual line of w ork and provide a glimpse into how one attempts to be a somewhat functiona l human when their day job is working violent person crime cases.
\nSari will also be reviewing the role of the medical examiner and Medicoleg al death investigator within Deschutes County. **The presentation will include photographic and descriptive examples of challenging scenes a nd bodily changes that professionals encounter in real life. Recommended f or ages 18+**
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Kori Barnum is a Senior Forensic Scientist with the Oregon State Police Forensic Laboratory in Bend. She ha s twenty years of forensic experience as a Firearms Laboratory Technician\ , Forensic Biologist\, Crime Scene Analyst\, and Advanced Bloodstain Patte rn Analyst\, and is a statewide trainer for new Crime Scene Analysts. She routinely provides forensic evidence identification\, collection\, and pre servation training to law enforcement agencies and the medical forensic co mmunity\, and has presented at multiple national conferences on improving collaboration and technical processes between forensic labs and the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) community. Her academic background includes a B.A. in English Literature\, a B.S. in General Science\, and a M.A. in Anthropology focusing on human bone microscopy related to age-at-death det ermination\, forensic anthropology\, and genetics. She served as an adjunc t professor of Anthropology at Portland State University from 2012-2015\, and is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences\, the Interna tional Association for Identification\, and the Northwest Association of F orensic Scientists.
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\nRitu Mukerji \;was born in Kolkata\, India\, and r aised in the San Francisco Bay area. From a young age\, she has been an av id reader of mysteries\, from Golden Age crime fiction to police procedura ls and the novels of PD James and Ruth Rendell. She received a BA in histo ry from Columbia University and a medical degree from Sidney Kimmel Medica l College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. She completed re sidency training at the University of California\, Davis and has been a pr acticing internist for fifteen years. She lives in Marin County\, Californ ia\, with her husband and three children.
\nLearn more about \;< a href="https://www.deschuteslibrary.org/calendar/novelidea/">A Novel Idea \;here.
\nQuestions? Contact \;beccar@dpls.lib.or.us
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