Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE - Aric Dutelle, lecturer for the criminal justice program at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, obtained $4,700 in funding through the Platteville 1866 Fund for the Forensic Investigation Research Facility at the Pioneer Farm.

The Platteville 1866 Fund supports a wide range of student-driven projects and programs. These include, but are not limited to, scholarships, student research, tutoring and student assistance, cultural enrichment, historical activities, student-driven entrepreneurial endeavors and new initiatives to support extra-curricular activities that benefit a significant number of UWP students.

"The 1866 Fund allowed the criminal justice department to put up fencing, concrete structures and to purchase supplies needed for classroom and research use," said Dutelle.

The criminal justice department has partnered with the Pioneer Farm for the research facility, which will sit on a little over a half acre of land. The Forensic Investigation Research Facility is the first of its kind in the northern U.S. and will allow criminal justice faculty and students to conduct on-going research into northern climate-related effects on body decomposition. The results of such research can be critical in death investigations, helping forensic investigators determine such factors as the time and cause of death. Criminal justice majors and minors will receive firsthand experiential learning from the facility.

"Our hope is to develop the research facility to train students and law enforcement on what to look for and how to interpret a crime scene specifically for the tri-state area," commented Dutelle.

Only two other facilities of this kind are located in the continental U.S., both in southern states: the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Facility, in Knoxville, Tenn.and the Decomposition Research Station operated by Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, N.C.

One-third of the facility will be dedicated to classroom application while the rest of the facility is to be used for forensic research. Dutelle currently has two student research assistants, Michael Annable and Marissa Johnson. The students must submit an original research proposal for an independent study class and then conduct and present on their findings. The hope is that the research will be published and assist in criminal investigations within the tri-state area.

For more information on the UWP Forensic Investigation Research Facility, contact Dutelle at (608) 342-1596 or dutellea@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Aric Dutelle, lecturer, criminal justice, (608) 342-1596,dutellea@uwplatt.edu Written by: Lisa D. McLean, UWP Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, mcleanl@uwplatt.edu