Forensic PalynologyForensic PalynologyStudy of pollen, spores, and other microscopic

plant parts

Study of pollen, spores, and other microscopic

plant parts

Pollen and Spores

Natures Fingerprints of Plants

Dinoflagellate Algae Fungal spores

Pollen Background

• Pollen is the male cell of flowering/cone bearing plants

• Microscopic• Found on nearly everything

(unknowingly )—Locard’s Principle• Comes in a vast array of shapes,

sizes, aperture openings, & surface textures

Pollen Background• Usually pollen types of different

species within a single genus look similar

Different species of daisies

Pollen Diversity

Hay Fever Pollen

Forget-Me-NotPersian Silk

Tree

Willow Tree

Pine Tree

Pollen Prints• Each location produces

a unique “pollen print” that is often so specific that it can be used to identify that precise location

Kansas Prairie

Texas

LouisianaGeorgia

Uses in forensics…

• Identify the pollen/minerals and determine where they came from and when they occur

• Determine if a body was in a particular place at a certain time

• Season in which crime was committed

Pollen Tells a Story

• For instance, a dead body may be found in the woods, and the clothes may contain pollen that are found in a place other than where the body was found. That indicates that the body was moved.

How to Analyze Pollen

• Using a microscope• Look for characteristics such as

shape, size, surface texture, & aperture

• Compare specimens (from crime scene to suspect, from victim to suspect etc.)

Provides a piece to the Puzzle

• Will probably not be the sole piece of evidence used to convict a person of a crime

• Simply provides a “link”