How soil science helps solve crime

Liz Porter (Australia)

Australia has 14 different major types of soil. Maps showing soil profiles of different areas are very useful for farmers, people planning cities, people who look after natural resources and increasingly … forensic scientists! The foray into the world of crime solving by Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organization (CSIRO) soil scientists has already been captured in the international journal Science and in an award-winning Australian forensic casebook.

Indeed, an article on the work appeared in the October 2009 issue of Science, entitled: Dirty Science: Soil Forensics Digs into New Techniques. The article details how CSIRO land and water soil scientist, Dr Rob Fitzpatrick, was called on to assist the South Australian police in a double murder investigation, which later lead to the establishment of the Centre for Australian Forensic Soil Science (CAFSS).

Dr Fitzpatrick and his team, based at the CSIRO Land and Water laboratories at Urrbrae in Adelaide, South Australia, were able to identify the similarities between mineral assemblages in soils on a shovel and also from a quarry. The soils had a common provenance and revealed the location of two buried bodies.

Their work was also highlighted in a book, Written on the skin by Liz Porter, which tied with another to win the Ned Kelly Award for Best True Crime book, presented by the Crime Writer’s Association of Australia. And the forensic work has being showcased around the world – a poster by Dr Fitzpatrick and his team, which depicts the role of soil science in crime investigation, is on permanent display in several institutions around the world, including the Macaulay Institute in Scotland.

CAFSS is the first, formal worldwide network of soil and forensic scientists that combines research, training and services in soil forensics to fight crime, terrorism and environmental pollution. Since its inception, the CAFSS has advised on over 50 criminal investigations and has conducted national and international workshops.

References

Dirty Science: Soil Forensics Digs into New Techniques, Science, 19 October 2007: vol. 318 no. 5849 pp 386-387.