Behind the Yellow Tape
You see a lot of “Authorized Personnel Only” signs in the lab of Ann Ross, director of NC State’s Forensic Sciences Institute and professor in the Department of Biological Sciences.
That’s because Ross’ lab holds the contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to handle forensic anthropology casework for the State of North Carolina. Her group handles around 30 cases per year, using state-of-the-art equipment and techniques to identify victims and determine what kind of tools were used in their deaths or dismemberments.
Visit NC State
Explore the campus where you’ll Think and Do.
Take a tour
For Ross’s team, bones are the key to learning not only about someone’s death, but also about their life. “Bones tell me the life history of a person,” Ross said. Her team is developing new standards for human identification, including techniques to more accurately assess an individual’s age at death based on bone mineral density of the femur.
Go inside this active forensic and teaching lab.
(The original version of this story appeared in the College of Sciences digital magazine.)
Ann Ross
In addition to her lab work, Ross travels the state working with law enforcement to recover remains, identify burial sites and testify at trials. She also travels the world to assist with humanitarian projects involving bone study and identification.
X-Ray Machine
Ross’ team X-rays every bone it studies to look for signs of trauma or gunshot residue. To aid in identification, the researchers can compare postmortem X-rays from the bones with X-rays from before the death of the person believed to be the victim.
3-D Digitizer
This instrument gathers 3-D coordinate data from various points on a skull to determine the ancestral region and biological sex of a victim. Ross and a colleague at Florida State University developed the software the machine uses.
High-Power Microscope
Ross’ lab is one of only a few in the country to have this powerful 3-D microscope. After researchers test potential murder weapons on pig bones, they compare cross-sections under the microscope to see if the striations match the human bone samples.
Tool Wall
The lab’s collection of tools commonly used in murders and dismemberments includes several types of hammers, handsaws and machetes. They compare these tools to marks on the bones to determine the type of tool that was used in the crime.
Bone Storage
This storage room off the main lab contains a unique collection of boxes of bones from active cases and cases ready to be returned to the state medical examiner’s office, as well as teaching samples on loan from the medical examiner.
“Uncle Gary”
Ross’ son named her teaching skeleton, a fixture in her lab and, often, in her car as she travels to courtrooms across the state. She uses it to show juries the locations on the body where trauma occurred.
1 of 7
CATEGORIES: The NC State Experience