Cover Story at is just disgusting—this used to be a person—and there are insects and maggots?” Eventually, he says, you get used to the smell. (He warns against using Vicks VapoRub under the nose, à la the autopsy scene in The Silence of the Lambs: “It makes you hate menthol.”) And staying focused on the task at hand helps distract from the gruesome visuals. More difficult to block out are the details of a heinous crime, especially when it’s your job to document them. Berryman has worked on many brutal murders but admits that one, the 1985 slaying of a young woman in Memphis, still haunts him, and he can’t entirely explain why. He doesn’t like to talk about it, and even with this passing reference, his customary spark dims. “It got into my mind and I couldn’t get it out,” he says. “I don’t ever want to have another one do that. I can’t afford that.” Regardless of academic aptitude, he concludes, some people simply can’t handle the psychological rigors of fieldwork—and the typical forensics student doesn’t get that type of exposure until graduate school, after they’ve already invested years in the classroom. That’s why Berryman created FASR, a special collaboration between university and law enforcement, to give MTSU students practical experience at the undergraduate level.
Making the Cut Not all of Berryman’s students, and not all forensic science majors, are on the FASR team. Students may apply for one of 10 spots only after they’ve completed one of Berryman’s two forensics classes, taken coursework familiarizing them with human and animal bones, and had archeological field experience. Berryman talks to their teachers, noting which ones seem smart, diligent, and (his favorite quality) “aggressive.” Those who make FASR are invited to accompany and assist him at crime and accident scenes. “His team has come out on several cases with me, and they’re wonderful,” says Denise Martin, lead death investigator for the State Medical Examiner’s Office and herself one of Berryman’s first students at MTSU. “They’re incredibly mature and very knowledgeable.”
Eventually, he says,
you get used to the smell.
And maturity is critical, Berryman says, because those on a crime scene learn information known only to law enforcement, the medical examiner, and the perpetrator. That sort of student access is highly unusual, particularly for undergraduates, and it is secured by Berryman’s own reputation. “If you trust Dr. Berryman,” Detective Mayercik says, “you’re going to trust the people he chooses.”
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Three of Dr. Hugh Berryman’s top Forensic Anthropology Search and Recovery (FASR) students investigate on location by shovel skimming and troweling. In February 2010, Ali Jordan (left) presented a paper she coauthored with Berryman at the American Academy of Forensic Science conference in Seattle. Jordan presented her research in hastening personal identifications through enhanced data tracking of surgical or orthopedic implants.
CSI: Murfreesboro
Tiffany Saul (center) spent last summer accompanying a group of MTSU history students on an expedition to Palau, a small Pacific island nation that was a sniper stronghold for the Japanese in World War II. Saul’s expertise in dealing with human remains as an FASR student won her the invitation to participate in the trip. Amber Schmuhl (right) is conducting a large research project with Berryman to uncover new ways to determine the gender of human remains. Spring 2011 | 31 |