Forensic anthropology site coming to NMU soon

MARQUETTE — Northern Michigan University is breaking ground on a one-of-a-kind project that has grabbed the attention of the FBI.

“I understand that this may be a little bit morbid for some people to understand, but, interestingly, there’s been a lot of support for this because people see how valuable that information is and how needed this training is,” said Alan McEvoy, Head of the Sociology and Anthropology Department at Northern Michigan University.

Northern Michigan University is in the midst of planning for a forensic anthropology site that will allow a first-time study of human decomposition in cold weather. The new research facility would be one of eight total sites in the world that uses human remains and the first that focuses on cold-weather climate decomposition.

As it stands currently, there is no base line data in regards to freezing and thawing of human remains. This alone has agencies like the FBI interested in the research. The site will not only further the study of post-mortem processes, but it will be used for police training, studying crime scenes, cadaver dog training, human remains identification and military training.

It’s hard to believe that the planning for this started just a year ago. A team was assembled to look at the logistics of the research such as identifying a location for the outdoor facility, creating an indoor lab, compiling a curriculum to match the research as well as finding grants to help fund the project.

A 2.5 acre lot near the Marquette Branch Prison has been chosen for the outdoor lab. If all goes according to plan, the state-owned lot would be sold to the university for just one dollar.

“It will be completely fenced in, it will be privacy fencing, there will be a pedestrian access and a vehicular access when we drop bodies off out there, so it’s a very safe, secure facility,” said Scott Demel, an associate professor of anthropology at NMU. “Nobody can go there on tour, you won’t see anything from the road. It’s a very private operation.”
With the lot only being roughly four miles from campus, it was an ideal location for the university as far as coordinating classes.

As for the indoor wet and dry lab, plans are in place to renovate a portion of Lee Hall, though this stage is still a few years away. A temporary lab location has been identified and will likely be available in mid to late summer.

The prospects of a major in forensic anthropology at Northern are high as core classes are implemented into the department’s curriculum. Students can expect to see these new options in the fall 2017 course offerings. McEvoy said this new program will receive attention on an international level and will usher in more students to raise the declining enrollment.

“The other facilities are also connected to universities and every place we’ve gone has said its increased enrollment specific to that program that students would not have come there otherwise,” McEvoy said. “The other thing I’d add is that we expect to bring in significant grant money with international scholars coming here to study that would not have been available otherwise.”

While Northern would see a plethora of benefits from the site, the Marquette community can also expect to profit.

“There’s a community benefit too, when we have a lot of researchers come in,” said Demel. “Obviously they’re going to have to stay in hotels, eat in town, but we anticipate pretty heavy use once it’s up and running, especially from these two week sessions we might have every summer for law enforcement coming for training.”

Though a total price tag on the project has not yet been determined, McEvoy and Demel said they are hopeful that grants will cover a majority of the costs.