Jodie Warren
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Assistant Professor Department of Justice Studies
Keywords |
Current Research Activities
My current research involves multiple outlets: In forensic entomology, the questions
being examined in forensic entomology are what delay times do we see in blow fly oviposition
in a second locally trapped blowfly Lucilia sericata (began with another species,
Calliphora latifrons) when remains are concealed in multiple ways? At crime scenes,
we come across decedents in homicides in suitcases/boxes/wrapped to dispose and clean
up in different situations which may delay insects from reaching the remains and so
this is why we are running experiments in the laboratory to see what these delays
may be. Students are working on this with me.
Also, what are the development times for local blow fly species? Blow flies even of
similar species develop at different rates in different locations so must be studied
for each location before applying locally. A different type of research that I have
been completing relates to my teaching in my Human Rights course. I have been examining
the Native American residential schools/boarding schools in North America. My latest
paper was asking what is the narrative behind the lives affected by the residential
schools of Northern British Columbia. As a First Nations person and a founding member
of GAIN with a vested interest in the Native students on campus, I am also examining
the experiences of Native students on campus with faculty and staff on campus through
focus groups and surveys. These findings were compiled in a qualitative analysis and
presented in white paper, publication, and presentations. A presentation was already
made to the university community of our findings.
Also, along with my coauthor, I have submitted an article to the Journal of Human
Rights regarding residential schools in Northern BC and Southern Yukon describing
the systematic HR abuses that occurred with the introduction of the Alaskan Highway
and the access to religious denominations.
Research Connections to Current Events
The residential school and boarding schools along with the 60's scoop etc served to
create trauma in the next generations of Native Americans and First Nations peoples.
The historical traumas still emerge in today's generations via intergenerational trauma
which passes down through one's DNA because these traumas changed DNA by way of epigenetics.
The traumas that were caused in the past still arise in Native Americans today through
PTSD, depression, substance abuse, and poor parenting. This trauma often leads to
substance abuse and other potentially poor choices in life and we see that when a
person of color or a missing Indigenous person (MMIWG) occurs they are not treated
the same by either the police or the press as it is with a Caucasian person.
They are often assumed to have run off, are promiscuous, or are off drinking and will
eventually show up instead of taking the case seriously when it needs to be within
that first 48 hours when leads can go cold. As far as forensic science, the research
will lead to more answers in local criminal cases. This primarily means an estimated
time since death occurred which allows death investigators to focus their investigation
on the correct time frame and put all investigative resources toward that time and
not to the last time seen alive which may have been much earlier.
Personal Connections to Research
As a person of Native ancestry and working these cases I feel I can make legitimate arguments from both sides, I see many cases of deceased women and many of those women are of Native ancestry and so I would like to see fewer of these women that look like my family members laying in the morgue because of horrific treatments from their childhood or because leads were not examined right away when they were first recognized as missing.
