BIOL 5333 - Forensic Botany

Credit Hours: 3
Contact Hours Lecture: 3
Contact Hours Lab: 0

The course is aimed at providing a brief historical explanation about the application of botanical knowledge to forensic investigation: botanical pieces of evidence (palynology, dendrochronology, plant anatomy, molecular biology, etc.,); methods and study cases; problems and methods in the interpretation of data (reconstruction of postmortem time, object search and localization, plants subjected to legal restrictions concerning possession, marketing, etc.). Moreover, the course will provide an overview of poisonous and psychoactive plants, including news stories and identification methods.

Course Level: Graduate