top of page

Representative Published Work

Products with a Forensic application focus

2018

Pechal, JL, CJ Schmidt, HR Jordan, ME Benbow. 2018. A large-scale survey of the postmortem human microbiome, and its potential to provide insight into the living health condition. Nature Scientific Reports 8:5724 doi:10.1038/s41598-018-23989-w (Media coverage by Live Science, Michigan NPR) [Top 100 read articles in Scientific Reports, Editors choice, and Top 100 in Microbiology (#25)]

2020

Kaszubinski, SF, JL Pechal, K Smiles, CJ Schmidt, HR Jordan, MH Meek, ME Benbow. 2020. Dysbiosis in the dead: human postmortem microbiome beta-dispersion as an indicator of manner and cause of death. Frontiers in Microbiology 11:555347 doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.555347

2020

Kaszubinski, SF, JP Receveur, B Wydra, K Smiles, JR Wallace, NJ Babcock, CR Weatherbee, ME Benbow. 2020. Cold case experiment demonstrates the potential utility of aquatic microbial community assembly in estimating a postmortem submersion interval. Journal of Forensic Sciences. doi:10.1111/1556-4029.14303

2020

Kaszubinski, SF, JL Pechal, CJ Schmidt, HR Jordan, ME Benbow, MH Meek. 2020. Evaluating bioinformatic pipeline performance for forensic microbiome analysis. Journal of Forensic Sciences 65:513-525 doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14213

2018

Pechal, JL, CJ Schmidt, HR Jordan, ME Benbow. 2018. A large-scale survey of the postmortem human microbiome, and its potential to provide insight into the living health condition. Nature Scientific Reports 8:5724 doi:10.1038/s41598-018-23989-w (Media coverage by Live Science, Michigan NPR) [Top 100 read articles in Scientific Reports, Editors choice, and Top 100 in Microbiology (#25)]

2017

Weatherbee, CR, JL Pechal, TI Stamper, ME Benbow. 2017. Post-colonization interval estimate using multi-species Calliphoridae larval masses and spatially distinct temperature data sets: a case study. 8(2), 40; doi:10.3390/insects8020040  Invited

2017

Pechal, JL, CJ Schmidt, HR Jordan, ME Benbow. 2017. Frozen: thawing and its effects on the postmortem microbiome in two pediatric cases. 62(5):1399-1405. doi: 10.1111/1556-4029.13419

2017

Weatherbee, CR, JL Pechal, ME Benbow. 2017. The dynamic maggot mass microbiome. 110(1):45-53. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/aesa/saw088 Invited

2013

Benbow, ME, AJ Lewis, JK Tomberlin, JL Pechal. 2013. Seasonal necrophagous insect community assembly during carrion decomposition. Journal of Medical Entomology 50(2):440-450. doi.org/10.1603/ME12194

2011

Tomberlin, JK, R Mohr, ME Benbow, AM Tarone, S Vanlaerhoven. 2011. A roadmap for bridging basic and applied research in forensic entomology. 56:401-421. () PMID: 20822449 doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ento-051710-103143

2011

Tomberlin, JK, ME Benbow, AM Tarone, R Mohr. 2011. Basic research in evolution and ecology enhances forensics. 26(2):53-55 () () PMID: 21185105 doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2010.12.001

2011

Lewis, AJ, ME Benbow. 2011. When entomological evidence walks away from a crime scene: maggot migration 48(6):1112-1119. doi.org/10.1603/ME11093

2012

Tomberlin, JK, JH Byrd, JR Wallace, ME Benbow. 2012. Assessment of decomposition studies indicates need for standardized and repeatable methods in forensic entomology. 3:147. doi:10.4172/2157-7145.1000147

2014

Pechal, JL, T Crippen, ME Benbow, A Tarone, JK Tomberlin. 2014. The potential use of bacterial community succession in forensics as described by high throughput metagenomic sequencing. International Journal of Legal Medicine 128:193-205: doi:10.1007/s00414-013-0872-1 PMID: 23749255 *One of the most frequently downloaded papers in 2015

2014

Pechal, JL, HE Moore, F Drijfhout, ME Benbow. 2014. Hydrocarbon profiles throughout adult Calliphoridae aging: a promising tool for forensic entomology. 245:65-71. doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2014.10.019

2015

Benbow, ME, JL Pechal, JM Lang, R Erb, JR Wallace. 2015. The potential of high-throughput metagenomic sequencing of aquatic bacterial communities to estimate the postmortem submersion interval. Journal of Forensic Sciences 60(6):1500-1510 PMID: 26294275 doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.12859

2016

Lang, JM, R Erb, JL Pechal, JR Wallace, RW McEwan, ME Benbow. 2016. Microbial biofilm community variation in flowing habitats: potential utility as bioindicators of postmortem submersion intervals. Microorganisms 4(1):1. doi:10.3390/microorganisms4010001

2009

Zurawski, KN, ME Benbow , JR Miller, RW Merritt. 2009. Examination of nocturnal blow fly (Diptera: Calliphoridae) oviposition on pig carcasses in mid-Michigan. 46(3): 671-679.

2007

Merritt, RW, R Snider, JL deJong, ME Benbow, RK Kimbirauskas, R Kolar. 2007 Collembola of the grave: a cold case history involving arthropods 27 years after death. 52(6): 1359-1361. PMID: 18093066

2008

Wallace, JR, RW Merritt, RK Kimbirauskas, ME Benbow, MD McIntosh. 2008. Caddisflies assist homicide case: determining a postmortem submersion interval (PMSI) using aquatic insects. 53(1): 219-221. PMID: 18279261

2020

Pearson, AL, JL Pechal, Z Lin, ME Benbow, CJ Schmidt, S Mavoa. 2020. Associations detected between measures of neighborhood environmental conditions and human microbiome diversity. 747:141029 doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141029

2019

Pearson, AL, A Rzotkiewicz, JL Pechal, CJ Schmidt, HR Jordan, A Zwickle, ME Benbow. 2019. Initial evidence of the relationship between the human postmortem microbiome and neighborhood blight and greening efforts. Annals of the American Association of Geographers 109:958-978. Doi:10.1080/24694452.2018.1519407

2016

Burcham, ZM, JA Hood, JL Pechal, KL Krausz, JL Bose, CJ Schmidt, ME Benbow, HR Jordan. 2016. Fluorescently labeled bacteria provide insight on post-mortem microbial transmigration. 264:63-6. doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2016.03.019

2016

Finley, SJ, JL Pechal, ME Benbow, BK Robertson, G Javan. 2016. Microbial signatures of cadaver gravesoil during decomposition. 71:524-529. doi:10.1007/s00248-015-0725-1

Publications - Forensic Applications: Publications
bottom of page