Though it might seem like a common allergen to some, for geology and geophysics doctoral student Shannon Ferguson, pollen was the key to assisting in identifying the origin of the body of a two-year-old child.
Ferguson interned with the Department of Homeland Security this summer under head palynologist Andrew Laurence. Palynology is the study of plant pollen and spores in both living and fossil forms.
Ferguson was tasked with identifying the origin of confiscated contraband and other items through pollen analysis. The case of Baby Doe, later identified as Bella Bond, came to Laurence, and he and Ferguson collaborated.
Bond’s body was found washed ashore on Deer Island, a peninsula of Boston.
“When the samples arrived, we had a pair of her leggings, two blankets that she was wrapped in and a little piece of her hair,” Ferguson said.
She was found wrapped in trash bags, which preserved the pollen samples discovered inside. Ferguson and Laurence used special vacuums to remove the pollen from blankets and leggings, studying the pollen grains in search of something that could point investigators to a specific location.
After grains of common pollens, like pine and oak were found, Ferguson began examining slides and identified
localized vegetation such as cedrus, elm, birch and other types of pollen indicative of the Northern region. Ferguson and Laurence submitted a report concluding the body was likely from the northern part of Boston. Ferguson then discovered their findings were correct.
“They just arrested the mother and the boyfriend last week,” Ferguson said. “They believe it was the boyfriend.”
Assisting in locating Bond’s body was a large accomplishment, Ferguson said. She said palynology is a useful study in forensics, but in general sciences as well.
“We use it here in geology for climate … basically paleoreconstruction,” Ferguson said. “In forensics, it can help locate contraband or people of interest.”
Ferguson said her interest in geology and palynology began in her third grade science class. Her teacher took the class on field trips and explained geology through “fun” methods.
Ferguson attended Georgia Southern University for her undergraduate degree in geolog,y where an adviser recommended she go to LSU for her postgraduate studies. Ferguson was known at LSU even before she arrived.
“I was with her undergrad adviser on a board,” said geology and geophysics associate professor Sophie Warny. “He told me he had an awesome student who would be great for the master’s program here.”
Warny is now Ferguson’s doctoral adviser.
Working with Ferguson for her master’s and now her doctorate, Warny said Ferguson has been a great help to the department.
“I hate that she may leave,” Warny said. “I hope that she stays as a postdoc. It’s nice to have an experienced person in the lab. She can help me train my younger grad students who are just starting.”
Ferguson said she’s unsure what she’ll do after getting her doctorate but she’s interested in everything pollen-related and she has no intention on changing. She said she’s always wanted to pursue pollen studies from a young age and in order to really do anything with pollen, Ferguson had to acquire at least her master’s degree.

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Emily Brauner

Doctoral candidate in Geology Shannon Ferguson used her expertise in forensic palynology in order to help locate the missing body of a child this past summer.