MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WMOT) -- The founder of one of the world’s most unique research facilities, Knoxville’s so-called "Body Farm," will make an appearance today here in Middle Tennessee.
UT Professor Emeritus Dr. Bill Bass will deliver a presentation and sign his books this evening in Murfreesboro on the campus of Middle Tennessee State.
Dr. Hugh Berryman is Director of the MTSU Forensic Institute for Research and Education. He says Bass created the Body Farm in 1981 to study the decomposition of the human body under various conditions and to train crime scene investigators.
“There was nothin’ else like that in the world at the time that Dr. Bass did that, and it really was a struggle to get that research facility in operation. There was a lot of people who didn’t understand what was goin’ on and what that was all about.”
The popularity of television shows like the CSI family of crime scene procedurals are due in large measure to Bass’ pioneering work. Bass will speak this evening at MTSU’s Murphy Center beginning at 6:30 p.m.