Forensic Ecogenomics

T. Komang Ralebitso-Senior is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic Science in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. She has studied at the City University of New York, the University of Natal (South Africa), and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She held post-doctoral positions at the BioMEMS Laboratory of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, and the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Oxford. Komang is a STEM Ambassador and member of the Society for Applied Microbiology and the International Society for Microbial Ecology.

1. General Introduction: method applications at the interface of microbial ecology and forensic investigation 2. Forensic Taphonomy 3. The method debate: a state-of-the art analysis of PMI estimation techniques 4. Implications of the investigative animal model 5. The role of the microbiome in PMI estimation 6. What is the “thanatomicrobiome” and what is its relevance to forensic investigations? 7. Assessing subsurface decomposition and potential impacts on forensic investigations 8. From experimental work to real crime scenes and the courts 9. Summary: an assessment of achievements, limitations and potential of Forensic Ecogenomics