UNC Asheville to Host Talk by "Body Farm" Curator, Forensic Anthropologist Murray Marks

UNC Asheville will host a talk by noted forensic anthropologist Murray Marks at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 30, at UNC Asheville’s Reuter Center. Marks is the curator of the University of Tennessee Anthropology Research Facility, which is the only human decomposition lab in the world. The event is free and open to the public.

Dubbed the “Body Farm,” the University of Tennessee Anthropology Research Facility is a two-and-a-half acre field dedicated to the study of decomposing human remains. The unique facility offers the ability to observe and understand the processes and timetable of postmortem decay, primarily to improve forensic anthropologists’ ability to determine time since death in murder cases. In recent years, the facility has played an increasingly important role in developing or testing new forensic technologies, and also in training law-enforcement agents, crime-scene technicians, and cadaver dogs and their handlers. As each stage of decomposition is recorded and analyzed, information is added to the growing data base that is made available to help solve crimes.

Marks, University of Tennessee associate professor of anthropology, is the facility’s curator and a specialist in facial and dental reconstruction. He has provided expert witness testimony in more than 30 state and federal criminal cases since 1995. He is the author of the scholarly text, “Computergraphic Facial Reconstruction,” and holds a doctorate degree in anthropology from the University of Tennessee.

The event is sponsored by the UNC Asheville and Appalachian State University psychology departments.

For more information, call UNC Asheville’s Psychology Department at 828/251-6422.

Media Contacts:

• Pam Laughon, UNC Asheville Associate Professor of Psychology, 828/251-6424
• Jill Yarnall, UNC Asheville Public Information Assistant Director, 828/251-6526