Yesterday I had to give my final presentation in Forensic Anthropology.  Usually, I get a little nervous talking in front of the class, but it's such a tiny group (less than ten students in the class, I think) that it wasn't even worth worrying over.  I spent nearly twenty minutes talking about forensic art: what it is, the differences between a composite image and a facial reconstruction, some of the major forensic artists working right now, and some of the big cases that forensic art played a significant role in.

Then I whipped out the big guns, and showed them my facial reconstruction.  They all seemed to be impressed.  It never ceases to surprise me that people who don't draw are amazed by anyone who can create a reasonable likeness to nature.  But it was definitely a strong way to end the presentation and make it memorable to my classmates.  Some of the other topics touched on (all somehow related to forensic anthropology) included search and rescue dogs, blade evidence on bones, computer forensics, and forensic science in popular culture.  It was definitely a mixed bag of topics, to say the least!