Forensic botany has been crucial is many criminal cases, from burglary to kidnapping to murder scenes and drug trafficking. Within the field, the use of pollen as a trace evidence, i.e. forensic palynology, is still limited by methods that are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and prone to misidentification. As a result, there is a growing need for quick and effective pollen identification that allows for quantification. The two most commonly used methods for pollen identification are microscopy and DNA metabarcoding. Our research aims at developing methods for quantitative and statistical analysis of pollen grains collected as evidence, using microscopy, DNA sequencing and chemical profiling at the single grain level without damaging it.
NCFS Research:
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DNA sequencing and chemical profiling of single pollen grains (Baudelet)
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Field collections and analysis (Baudelet)
- Luz Kelley, Elizabeth Rose, Bryan McCullough, Mauro Martinez, Matthieu Baudelet, Non-destructive DNA analysis of single pollen grains, Forensic Chemistry, Volume 20, 2020, 100275
- Jack Trimble, Camron Melendez, Kaity Cierpik, Natalie Martinez, Madison Adolfs, Matthieu Baudelet, Evaluating the use of LC-MS-derived pollen coat chemical signatures for the classification of plant species, Forensic Chemistry, Volume 50, 2026, 100770
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