What the Body Tells Us

Forensic Science at Mason's Outdoor Research Facility

Dr. An Di Yim offers an inside look at George Mason University's Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory and explores how its research helps investigators solve real-world cases.

George Mason University's Forensic Science Research and Training Laboratory (FSRTL) is one of only a handful of outdoor human taphonomic research facilities in the country (and the only one in the mid-Atlantic). Researchers here study how our region's distinctive climate and wildlife shape what happens after death, and the forensic anthropological investigation that follows the discovery of human remains.

Dr. An-Di Yim is a biological and forensic anthropologist at George Mason University, where he serves as the associate director of FSRTL, and the principal investigator of the Yim Biological and Forensic Anthropology Laboratory. His research examines what skeletal remains can reveal about injury, identity, and the time since death, with particular attention to making forensic methods accurate across diverse groups. He consults on cases for law enforcement and medicolegal agencies in Virginia and across the country.

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