Canadian Police Research Centre Provides $149,000 in Research Funding to Trent University

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Project to enhance forensic entomology applications in Canada
 
Tuesday, March 8, 2011, Peterborough

Trent University researchers, Drs. Christopher Kyle and David V. Beresford, have been awarded funding of $149,000 over a three-year period to enhance forensic entomology applications in Canada by the Canadian Police Research Centre (CPRC).

A goal of the project is to address knowledge gaps within the field of forensic entomology to enhance its value through further validation and understanding of its limitations as an evidence-type, while improving and enhancing the effectiveness of current operations that involve forensic entomology with cost-effective protocols.

Overall, the goal of the proposed project is to enhance the ability to derive defensible information from entomological evidence from corpses. This will be accomplished by validating current techniques with molecular tools, assessing novel techniques to determine time of death relative to insect species that predominate in some regions in Canada, and determining if the movement of corpses post mortem can be determined using molecular means.

Professor Kyle is an assistant professor and the research chair in Wildlife Genetics and Forensics at Trent University’s Natural Resources DNA Profiling and Forensics Centre. Professor Beresford is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Trent. Staff Sergeant Mike Illes is the Ontario Provincial Police collaborator on the project.

The CPRC’s mission is to harness science and technology knowledge to strengthen police, fire and emergency medical services across Canada through research, development of standards, product evaluation and technology transfer. It is a program managed by the Defence R&D Canada - Centre for Security Science, a joint endeavour between the Department of National Defence and Public Safety Canada to strengthen, through science and technology, Canada’s ability to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from accidents, natural disasters, or terrorist and criminal acts that impact the safety and security of Canadians.

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For more information, please contact: Prof. Christopher Kyle, assistant professor, Trent University, 705-748-1011, Ext. 7055, christopherkyle@trentu.ca