Taylor Rynish, David Shaw, Abigail LaChance, and Anissa Zaske, “Decomposition Rates in Freshwater vs. Saltwater”
Mentors: Jean Hudson and Emily Middleton, Anthropology
Oral Presentation Block 2

This research project uses an experimental approach to address forensic questions about the difference in rate of decomposition between aquatic environments while controlling for insect activity. The data collected from this research will help to further knowledge about how different aquatic environments affect post mortem interval. The experiment will involve submerging whole bodied fleshed rabbits into freshwater and saltwater to analyze the rate of decomposition over a period of six weeks. I will submerge two rabbits in containers of saltwater and two in containers of freshwater. The freshwater will be samples from Lake Michigan and the saltwater will be made by dissolving 35 grams of salt per liter of water to simulate average ocean salinity. To further simulate the differing environments, the freshwater containers will be kept in a location roughly the temperature of the water when it is collected, and the saltwater containers will be kept around room temperature (~70 degrees F). The water temperature will be tracked using a thermometer at each check-in on average every other day. To control for and prevent insect activity, I will place lids on the containers the rabbits are placed in. I will track the five stages of decomposition, recording the characteristics and visual appearance on average every other day. I will be taking photos that correlate with the notes taken about the progression of decomposition. This project will focus on the initial stages of decomposition, and additional work will further track the decomposition of these animals beyond the six week study period.