Growing Pains in the Lumbar Vertebrae: Not So Light Reading

Nico l -

Last week was uneventful to say the least. My attempts to arrange another time with my site advisor are not very fruitful, as it usually takes a day or so communicating over email to establish communication. I can’t blame her as she is an assistant professor and has her own research and work to do everyday, but the lack of lab time on my end has mostly relegated me to personal research. I’ve mainly been doing more reading on the Body Farm at the University of Tennessee, which has yielded some interesting facts, such as using a necrobiome of a corpse to determine time of death. The first body farm outside of the US is in Australia, and there is another in Quebec that specializes in cold climate analysis. I don’t have any pictures again this week, unless you want to see very decomposed bodies covered in all sorts of wonderful things, but once I get back to ASU I will take some pictures of anything interesting there. I look forward to maybe seeing some results of the Sonoran Desert Decomposition Project, either being remains or good photos.

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    sidd_s
    Hi Nico! I'm really excited to see how the rest of your senior project develops. Do you find it harder to research independently or in a lab setting?
    March 26, 2025 at 11:09 am - Reply
    joaquin_s
    Hey Nico, it's pretty unfortunate that it's difficult for you to get lab work done. You mention body farms in this post, and have brought them up before, but I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about what they are?
    March 26, 2025 at 4:20 pm - Reply
    meggiles
    Hi, Nico! It would be great if you could link to the Body Farm or the SDDP so we can learn more. You know this, but the logistics of Senior Projects often prove challenging. ASU's West Campus is of course across town, you had some appointments, your site advisor has a challenging schedule on her own--it's difficult to manage, for certain. I am so glad you are persevering. I do think you can make use of your time to work on the film and also follow up on interviewing some other professionals in the field. Keep your chin up, as I know you are. You're doing great, and you have time. I hope you'll be able to spend some time in the lab this week.
    March 26, 2025 at 4:29 pm - Reply
    mj_j
    Hey Nico! Although you weren't able to visit the lab, I know you'll find a way to keep advancing on! For my question, I was wondering what drew you into researching body farms in the first place? Also, I can't wait to see where your project goes from here!
    March 27, 2025 at 9:19 am - Reply
    vinesh_k
    Hi Nico, great stuff. Could you explain a little bit more about the necrobiome and how that corresponds to time of death? Are there specific organisms/bacteria that emerge after a certain amount of time?
    April 7, 2025 at 8:19 pm - Reply

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