Although Halloween was celebrated just a few weeks ago, an eerie event recently occurred at the Gretna Public Library. On Nov. 14, Forensic anthropologist Kaitlyn East, PhD, visited the library and presented her work on the connection between common monster myths and the decomposition of the human body.
East covered an array of monsters and the reasons why their myths may have started. She explained the history of mummies, zombies and vampires and backed all of her ideas up with her research.
The event caught the attention of several community members including Freshman Jason Kava, who says he particularly enjoyed the event because of his interest in forensic science and anthropology. He enjoys going to different things in the Gretna community with his grandparents and really liked this particular event.
“I’ve watched many crime shows, for example, my favorite one being Forensic File,” Kava said. “I watch it every Saturday morning, at nearly 5 in the morning.”
The library’s Adult Services Librarian, Griffin Gissler, was pleased with the event and East’s presentation and saw it as another step in hosting events at the library to increase community participation.
“We hope that folks come out to the library and see what all we have to offer,” he said. “We aim to foster a growing and ongoing community through a variety of programs. There should be a little bit of everything for everyone at the library.”
East is a full-time lab-based forensic anthropologist and currently works in past accounting where she helps identify missing soldiers from World War II. When she’s not in the lab, she attends many festivals and travels to local museums and libraries, such as Gretna’s own, to spread her well-earned knowledge.
“I’m in the lab studying skeletons as my nine-to-five, so I like to try to find ways where I can still engage with the community, share a little bit about what I do and share a little bit about science,” East said. “In addition to that, a lot of the research that forensic anthropologists do, and what my lab does in particular, is taxpayer funded. So I like to make sure that some of that science is making it back into the community.”
East has always found forensics interesting, but she was first passionate about archeology. She got her bachelor’s degree in anthropology and archeology and then went on to get her master’s. A few years later, she got her PhD and is now a board-certified forensic anthropologist.
“I think there’s a distrust in the US, especially between the public and scientists, and I think a lot of that stems from poor communication and also the fact that a lot of Americans don’t know a single living scientist,” East said.
“So if I can help reach out to the community, build some bridges, build some trust by showing that I’m a real person and a scientist, and then I’m just using science to answer questions and try to solve problems.”
