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NMU symposium to feature Austrian scientists and the study of human remains

Northern Michigan University

MARQUETTE, MI--   A group of Austrian scientists will talk about their work in forensic anthropology at a symposium hosted by Northern Michigan University Thursday.

Dr. Jane Wankmiller is the director of Northern’s Forensic Research Outdoor Station—or FROST. It allows researchers and students to study taphonomy, or what happens to the body after death.

Wankmiller says the scientists from the Institute for Forensic Medicine in Salzburg have been working with Wankmiller’s colleague at Michigan State University and agreed to come to Marquette to look into a collaboration.

“Their primary goal for coming up here is to discuss things like potential research for the future, and I asked if they would be willing to give a symposium on their research because I knew that our community would be interested,” she says.

Wankmiller says FROST is unique in that researchers can study how decomposition is affected by snow, cold, and the freeze/thaw cycle.

The symposium takes place Thursday at 10 a.m. in Jamrich Hall, room 1318. It is free and open to the public.

Nicole was born near Detroit but has lived in the U.P. most of her life. She graduated from Marquette Senior High School and attended Michigan State and Northern Michigan Universities, graduating from NMU in 1993 with a degree in English.