Forensic Entomology

Dr. Jason H. Byrd, PhD, D-ABFE, is a board-certified forensic entomologist and diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Entomology. He is the current vice president of the American Board of Forensic Entomology, and the current president of the North American Forensic Entomology Association. He is the first person to be elected president of both professional North American forensic entomology associations. Dr. Byrd is a bureau chief with the Florida Division of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and he serves as the associate director of the William R. Maples Center for Forensic Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine. At the University of Florida, he instructs courses in forensic science at the University of Florida's nationally recognized Hume Honors College. He is also a faculty member of the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine. Outside of academics Dr. Byrd serves as an administrative officer within the National Disaster Medical System, Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team, Region IV. He also serves as the logistics chief for the Florida Emergency Mortuary Operations Response System. Currently he serves as a subject editor for the Journal of Medical Entomology. He has published numerous scientific articles on the use and application of entomological evidence in legal investigations. Dr. Byrd has combined his formal academic training in entomology and forensic science to serve as a consultant and educator in both criminal and civil legal investigations throughout the United States and internationally. Dr. Byrd specializes in the education of law enforcement officials, medical examiners, coroners, attorneys, and other death investigators on the use and applicability of arthropods in legal investigations. His research efforts have focused on the development and behavior of insects that have forensic importance, and he has over 15 years experience in the collection and analysis of entomological evidence. Dr. Byrd is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Dr. Jeffery Keith Tomberlin is an associate professor and co-director of the Forensic & Investigative Sciences Program and principal investigator of the Forensic Laboratory for Investigative Entomological Sciences (FLIES) facility at Texas A&M University. Research in the FLIES facility examines species interactions on ephemeral resources such as vertebrate carrion, decomposing plant material, and animal wastes to better understand the mechanisms regulating arthropod behavior related to arrival, colonization, and succession patterns. His research is also focused on waste management in confined animal facilities and the production of alternate protein sources for use as livestock, poultry, and aquaculture feed.