Charity Grace Owings
Specialization: Forensic Entomology, Decomposition Ecology, Population Genetics, Molecular Ecology
I joined the Entomology and Plant Pathology Department in August 2023. I spent four years as a postdoc, first at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) studying the use of blow flies as environmental sensors to detect chemical warfare agents (2019 – 2020) and then as a Haslam postdoctoral fellow at the UTK Forensic Anthropology Center studying the carrion arthropods associated with human decomposition (2020 – 2023). During my time at the FAC, I developed and taught two forensic entomology courses over a two-year period, and taught evidence collection procedures to hundreds of domestic and international law enforcement and other forensic professionals at the Anthropology Research Facility (ARF), colloquially known as the “Body Farm”.
I received my Ph.D. at IUPUI under the supervision of Dr. Christine Picard in the Department of Biology where I studied the population genetics, molecular diet analysis, and stable isotope analysis of blow flies from Indiana, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Yellowstone National Park. I received my MS in Entomology from Texas A&M University under the supervision of Dr. Jeffery Tomberlin, where I studied phenotypic plasticity in blow flies. Thus far, I have mentored five graduate students (two PhD, three MS), nine undergraduates, and three high school students. I currently serve on the graduate committees of one PhD student and one MS student.
I currently serve as a forensic entomology consultant and expert witness in death investigation cases from across the US. I am currently working to obtain board certification from the American Board of Forensic Entomology.
2415 Fletcher Luck Lane
Knoxville, TN 37996-4560
- PhD, Biology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 2019
- MS, Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2012
Charity Grace Owings
2415 Fletcher Luck Lane
Knoxville, TN 37996-4560
- PhD, Biology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 2019
- MS, Entomology, Texas A&M University, 2012
I joined the Entomology and Plant Pathology Department in August 2023. I spent four years as a postdoc, first at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) studying the use of blow flies as environmental sensors to detect chemical warfare agents (2019 – 2020) and then as a Haslam postdoctoral fellow at the UTK Forensic Anthropology Center studying the carrion arthropods associated with human decomposition (2020 – 2023). During my time at the FAC, I developed and taught two forensic entomology courses over a two-year period, and taught evidence collection procedures to hundreds of domestic and international law enforcement and other forensic professionals at the Anthropology Research Facility (ARF), colloquially known as the “Body Farm”.
I received my Ph.D. at IUPUI under the supervision of Dr. Christine Picard in the Department of Biology where I studied the population genetics, molecular diet analysis, and stable isotope analysis of blow flies from Indiana, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and Yellowstone National Park. I received my MS in Entomology from Texas A&M University under the supervision of Dr. Jeffery Tomberlin, where I studied phenotypic plasticity in blow flies. Thus far, I have mentored five graduate students (two PhD, three MS), nine undergraduates, and three high school students. I currently serve on the graduate committees of one PhD student and one MS student.
I currently serve as a forensic entomology consultant and expert witness in death investigation cases from across the US. I am currently working to obtain board certification from the American Board of Forensic Entomology.