At the age of nine, Makenna McLean knew her life goal was to become a forensic scientist. Now, as a top criminalistics student, she's not only one step closer to her dream, but also a research project that's opening up new possibilities for identifying victims in disasters around the world.
McLean's research began with a request from Forensics Guardian International (FGI), a forensic identification company. Led by SFU alumna Megan Basnand, FGI had already been researching body marking and identification technology, but needed more data to expand its scope, so they turned to the SFU Center for Forensic Research (CFR) for assistance.
At the time, identifying victims in disasters often relied on manual methods like paper tags and handwritten records. These methods were prone to damage, error, or loss, potentially preventing families from identifying victims and preventing them from receiving a proper burial. While RFID technology is powerful, it had never been thoroughly tested in the harsh environment of decomposition. This sparked McLean's research project, which focused on exploring the survival and reliability of RFID tags in these harsh decomposition environments.
To find the answer, McLean spent three years planning and conducting an experiment. Given the similarities between pig carcasses and human bodies, she chose to conduct the experiment in a wooded area in Maple Ridge, British Columbia. She used nine different commercial RFID tags, attached to the pig carcasses in various ways. Some were buried underground, while others were placed in cages above ground to protect them from scavengers. The experiment lasted 17 weeks, with McLean visiting the site weekly to document the decomposition process, focusing on whether the tag chips were damaged, whether they could be scanned, whether the text on the surface was legible, and whether they were detaching. The experiment faced challenges due to the unpredictable decomposition process. High temperatures, decomposition fluids, environmental factors, and insect activity could all damage the tags.
Ultimately, the results exceeded expectations. RFID pet tags, originally designed for implantation in living animals, did not remain intact as McLean and her mentor had envisioned. During decomposition, scavenging insects disturbed the tags, resulting in many being lost. However, by adjusting the tag attachment method, most of the tags remained functional in practice. Based on this discovery, FGI plans to further validate the findings and explore cost-effective implementation methods. Basnand believes this represents a novel application of RFID technology in the field, with great potential for managing supplies in conflict and emergency situations.
This research experience has profoundly transformed McLean. The project has given her significant confidence and even given her the opportunity to present at a CFR symposium. The research project was supported by a Pathology/Biology Research Grant from the American Society of Forensic Science and the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Graduate Research Award Program (VPR-USRA). McLean is particularly grateful to Dr. Gail Anderson, Dr. Danielle Murdoch, the American Society of Forensic Science, San Francisco State University, the British Columbia Institute for Information Technology, and the volunteers who accompanied her on her fieldwork.
