Katie Corcoran
A lecture in Oak Ridge today will feature a presentation on finding unmarked graves.
Katie Corcoran is pursuing a doctorate in anthropology at the University of Tennessee, and she is also a graduate intern in the Geographic Information Science and Technology Group at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Her lecture at a Friends of ORNL meeting is titled “The Remote Detection of Unmarked Graves.†The meeting starts at 11 a.m., and the lecture begins at noon at the University of Tennessee Resource Center at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike. It’s open to the public.
A press release said Corcoran is working with Senior Research Scientist Devin White, in ORNL’s computational sciences directorate to use technology to study terrain and other geographical factors common around grave sites that could lead to pinpointing unknown burial locations.
“Corcoran is looking into spectral imagery to observe grave signatures beyond the visible spectrum and also combining 3-D laser scanning methods to visualize grave footprints,” the release said. “Laser scanning (also known as LIDAR), combined with spectral imagery, will allow one to see if there are any differences or patterns when compared to undisturbed ground. ORNL’s world-class computational capabilities and deep knowledge of geographic information science enables the large amount of information collected through these studies to be analyzed with the hope of gaining a better understanding of how to locate unmarked graves.”
Corcoran earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology at the University of Central Florida. She worked with the Palm Beach County archeologist and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, where she surveyed archeologically significant sites throughout south Florida. These were her first experiences with LIDAR, one of the technologies used in the mass grave research project.
The UT Resource Center is the white-colored building at 1201 Oak Ridge Turnpike between Taco Bell and Applebee’s at the intersection of the Turnpike and Rutgers Avenue.
Here’s the meeting agenda:
- 11 a.m.—Socializing and coffee
- 11:30 a.m.—Lunch (catered by the Soup Kitchen, cost $8)
- 11:50 a.m.—Business Items (if any)
- 12 p.m.—Lecture begins
- 12:45 p.m.—Q&A
- 1 p.m.—Adjourn
Cindy McCullough says
I do wish these could be published with a bit more lead time, as I see the post after the event often times. I have gone to a few of these though and have enjoyed them, even if I am about the only non-senior citizen in the room.
johnhuotari says
Sorry, Cindy. We’re not always able to publish event notices as quickly as we’d like just because of the volume of the content we receive and our small staff size (mostly me :)). And, in a few cases, we don’t get much notice either. But, I added a Community Events plugin to our events calendar this evening. It will allow registered users to post their own events. I’m hopeful that at least some of our contributors will be able to use it to help post upcoming events with plenty of lead time. I’ll adjust the settings on the plugin and announce this new feature as soon as I can.
Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.