The Washburn University Forensic Anthropology Recovery Unit assists local, regional, and state agencies (law enforcement, coroner/medical examiners) with active forensic casework investigations, many of which are homicides, missing persons and cold cases in the Midwest. The WU-FARU, founded in 2017 and directed by board-certified forensic anthropologist Alexandra Klales, associate professor, completes over 75 cases a year including crime scene recoveries, laboratory analyses of the biological profile to aid in positive identification and assessment of skeletal trauma related to the cause and manner of death.
The volume and timeliness of our casework could not be accomplished without the assistance of our Washburn University forensic students. These students can volunteer on active forensic anthropology casework after completing their upper division coursework and case competency training. WU-FARU allows students to take classroom training into the real world to better prepare them for future careers in forensics or graduate education. Our services, in turn, provide an invaluable resource to our community, partner agencies, the decedents and their families and loved ones.
Your Day of Giving Gift will provide scholarships for anthropology majors with a concentration in forensics, student professional development opportunities (including national conference attendance/presentations, funding research supplies and purchasing casework equipment) and paid summer employment as laboratory assistants.
Did you know, Washburn is one of only two universities in the U.S. to offer a bachelor of science in forensic anthropology and we are one of five universities in the U.S. that give undergraduate students direct hands-on training with forensic casework?
To learn more about the work of the WU-FARU and see recent press releases, visit washburn.edu/wu-faru/ and facebook.com/WUForensicAnthropology.
