Lab Reflection

                   I thought I've seen very disturbing things before, but nothing quite compared to a decomposing pork shoulder. In my advanced forensics class we  had the ability set up a lab to research several variables. These variables consisted of the decomposition and forensic entomology.

                  September 8th, we explored the land in front of Tolman near the Blackstone River. Once finding a reasonable place, we began our lab. Materials used were a pig shoulder, a cage, rocks, and stakes,and lastly some zip ties. We had first began to dug a hole to place the fresh pork shoulder in. The next step consisted of placing the cage over it and placing the stakes around the cage. We also surrounded the cage with rocks to help protect it from animals. The zip ties also played a factor in holding the cage in place because we zip tied the stakes to the cage. Almost immediately placing the cage, flies were already starting to swarm the shoulder.

                   A couple of days had passed when we noticed that you couldn't tell much of anything was happening. The next recorded date was September 10th, on this day, you can see that some insect business was occurring. We had injected slits into the pork shoulder with prior knowledge that flies lay eggs in open wounds or orifices. The insects that inhabitant these wounds were flies and  wasps. The next change we saw was the 15th where bone was beginning to show and the skin appeared to be tough and leathery. The same situation was recorded for the next couple of days.

                     The data we have collected over weeks was finally going to become organized and clear to read as we found out the PMI. PMI (Postmortem Interval) means the time of death. To find the PMI we must complete ADH. With the internet access we were able to get the average temperature for the time the pork shoulder was out there. Temperature is extremely important for forensic entomologists because if the weather is warmer, the body decomposes faster, rather than slower in colder extremes. 

                  The purpose of this lab was to give us the understanding of the use of insects in forensic entomology. The lab had moments that were very intriguing while others were disturbing or foul-smelling. The lab was a hands on experience and also helped us to apply our own knowledge calculating the ADH and finding out what types of bugs were laying their eggs in the pork shoulder.