Planning Grant: I/UCRC for Necrobiome Research and Its Application in Decomposition Ecology and Forensics
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This award will assist in the planning activities for the proposed I/UCRC for Necrobiome Research and Its Application in Decomposition Ecology and Forensics.The Center will develop standard operating procedures that will be validated, assessed for accuracy and precision, and subsequently integrated into current crime laboratories and crime scene investigation units through training centers currently in existence at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, and Texas A&M. This Center will create a network for researchers to partner with forensic practitioners that will result in timely and effective transfer of science-based discoveries and technology to forensic scientists in the government and private sectors.Training programs currently in place through Texas A&M are accredited through the International Association for Identification thus allowing for such training being accepted globally. An undergraduate programs in the forensic sciences accredited by the Forensic Programs Accreditation Commission is also available for training future practitioners by integrating new techniques developed through the center into their curricula.This proposed Center represents a combination of practitioner expertise and research capacity that positions the center to serve as a global platform for: 1) Conducting multidisciplinary discovery and translational research in the field and laboratory that establishes a science-based foundation associated with the forensically important phenomena of decomposition and ecological recycling of vertebrate carrion; 2) Integrating the decomposition and ecological recycling research with new discoveries in basic and applied forensic chemistry and biology to improve forensic methodology and technology; and 3) Enhancing the forensics workforce development programs already associated with each of the partner institutions.
