{"id":38046,"date":"2024-09-17T16:10:38","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T21:10:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?p=38046"},"modified":"2024-09-17T16:10:38","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T21:10:38","slug":"the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/","title":{"rendered":"The effects of extreme cold on body decomposition"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In frigid conditions, microbes can help pinpoint time of death, UND scholar writes with her co-author in The Conversation\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Blizzard
UND researcher Lavinia Iancu found that studying microbes involved in decomposition can help predict the time elapsed since death in extreme cold conditions with high accuracy. (NPS\/Public Domain Mark 1.0).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Editor\u2019s note:<\/strong>\u00a0On Sept. 9,<\/em>\u00a0The Conversation<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>published an article co-authored by Lavinia Iancu<\/a>, <\/strong>director of UND\u2019s Forensic Science <\/a><\/strong>program, and Noemi Procopio, senior research fellow at the University of Central Lancashire\u2019s Sch<\/em>ool of Law and Policing in Lancashire, United Kingdom. The article describes the effects of extreme cold on post-mortem forensic investigations.<\/em><\/p>\n

The article is below and can be read in its original form on\u00a0The Conversation\u2019s website<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0As of Sept. 17, the article has been republished by 10 media outlets and read nearly 7,000 times, including by readers in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Canada, among other countries.<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n

The Conversation is a nonprofit\u00a0media resource that publishes \u201cexplanatory journalism\u201d columns by university scholars, and makes those columns available for free and immediate republicatio<\/em>n.\u00a0A complete list of all articles authored by UND scholars<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0can be found on The Conversation\u2019s website.<\/em><\/p>\n

UND faculty members and graduate students who\u2019d like more information on writing for The Conversation are invited to read\u00a0Introducing The Conversation,<\/a><\/strong> a story that appeared in UND Today in 2022. An additional story from last summer, \u201cMore than 340,000 readers worldwide,\u201d<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0noted that UND faculty members who\u2019ve written for The Conversation report \u201coutstanding\u201d experiences and say they\u2019d recommend without hesitation that their colleagues become Conversation authors.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

In addition, a Conversation executive will be visiting UND on Sept. 17-18 to host informational sessions for interested UND scholars.<\/em><\/p>\n

Questions? Please contact Tom Dennis, UND associate director of communications, at\u00a0tom.dennis@und.edu<\/a>,<\/strong>\u00a0or Adam Kurtz, UND strategic communication editor, at\u00a0adam.kurtz.1@UND.edu<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

By Lavinia Iancu and Noemi Procopio<\/strong><\/p>\n

What happens to a dead body in an extremely cold environment? Does it decompose? How do these conditions affect how forensic scientists understand when the person died?<\/p>\n

Estimating time of death, also called the post-mortem interval<\/a><\/strong>, is a complex task. It plays an important role in forensic investigations, as it can provide critical insights into the timeline of events leading up to a person\u2019s death. This information can narrow down potential scenarios and suspects, aiding in the resolution of criminal cases.<\/p>\n

A multitude of factors are at play at a death scene, ranging from environmental conditions to the individual\u2019s health status prior to death. Historically, scientists have estimated time of death by observing post-mortem physical and biological changes in the body, such as stiffening, fluid collection and cooling.<\/p>\n

These methods are limited, however, by their variability and dependence on external factors. Calculating the post-mortem interval became more precise with the advent of molecular biology. But it\u2019s still a challenging task, especially in extreme cold weather conditions. There is often a lack of obvious signs of decomposition on a frozen body during the first months after death.<\/p>\n

We are forensic scientists leading the forensics programs at the University of North Dakota<\/strong><\/a> and the University of Central Lancashire<\/a><\/strong>. We use molecular biology and bioinformatics to develop tools to help researchers and investigators more accurately estimate the post-mortem interval. Our recently published research in Frontiers in Microbiology found that studying the microbes involved in decomposition<\/a><\/strong> could predict time elapsed since death in extreme cold conditions with high accuracy.<\/p>\n

Decomposition in cold environments<\/h2>\n

Our study took place in Grand Forks, N.D., one of the coldest cities in the United States<\/a><\/strong>, where winters are characterized by temperatures that can drop to 40 degrees below zero<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0and high winds that can reach up to 31 mph.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

In an extremely cold environment like North Dakota\u2019s winters, traditional methods might not be enough to understand decomposition and estimate time of death. For instance, the body cools much faster in cold conditions, which can skew estimates based on body temperature.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The researchers set their investigation in the extreme Grand Forks\u2019 cold. Photo by Lavinia Iancu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Similarly, cold environments can delay the onset and duration of rigor mortis, or body stiffening. The process of decomposition, including the activity of insects and other scavengers that contribute to the breakdown of the body, also can be slowed or halted by freezing temperatures.<\/p>\n

Snow is another important factor when investigating decomposition. It can insulate a body by trapping residual heat<\/a><\/strong> and raising its temperature slightly higher than the surrounding environment. This insulating effect allows the body to decompose at a slower rate compared with bodies exposed to open air.<\/p>\n

Microbes and time since death<\/h2>\n

In conditions of extreme cold, it becomes necessary to employ additional means to understand decomposition and estimate the time of death. Advanced molecular techniques<\/a><\/strong>, such as analyzing the microbiome, gene expression and protein degradation, can help provide valuable information about the crime scene.<\/p>\n

Each organism has distinct microbial characteristics that act like a fingerprint<\/a>.<\/strong> The necrobiome<\/a>,<\/strong> a community of microbes associated with decomposing remains, plays a crucial role in decay. Specific microbes are present during different stages of decomposition<\/a>,<\/strong> contributing to the breakdown of tissues and the recycling of nutrients. Forensic investigators can sample what microbes are living in a dead body to deduce how long ago a person died based on the makeup of the microbial population.<\/p>\n

Our study focused on identifying common patterns in the microbial changes<\/a><\/strong> that occur during decomposition in extreme cold environments. Over a period of 23 weeks, we collected and analyzed 393 samples of microbes from the inside and outside of the noses of dead pigs covered in snow. Pigs decompose similarly to humans and are commonly used in forensic research<\/a><\/strong>. We developed models to estimate the post-mortem interval by pairing microbial genetic data with environmental data such as snow depth and outdoor temperature.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The researchers collect samples from the noses of dead pigs. Photo by Lavinia Iancu.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Overall, we found that the bacterial species Psychrobacter<\/em>, Pseudomonas<\/em> and Carnobacterium<\/em><\/a> <\/strong>may best predict time after death in extreme winter conditions up to six months after death, with a margin of error of just over nine days.<\/p>\n

We found that different bacterial species are most abundant at different time intervals. For example, levels of Psychrobacter<\/em> increase five weeks after death and are most abundant at 10 weeks, while Pseudomonas<\/em> increase between five to nine weeks and hit a peak at 18 weeks.<\/p>\n

Improving forensics<\/h2>\n

Death is often an unpleasant topic to bring into a conversation. But from a forensic perspective, having techniques and methods to determine when someone has died can help bring justice and peace for loved ones.<\/p>\n

Our study found that decomposition does not completely halt even in cold environments. Studying the microenvironment \u2014 the local conditions surrounding the body, including temperature, humidity and microbial activity \u2014 can reveal crucial information about the decomposition process. The key microbial species we identified served as biomarkers of death<\/a><\/strong>, allowing us to develop time-of-death models that researchers can use to overcome the limitations of just visually examining remains.<\/p>\n

Microbes can become a crucial piece of the puzzle during the process of investigating a death by aiding in constructing more precise timelines, even in extreme conditions.\"The<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In frigid conditions, microbes can help pinpoint time of death, UND scholar writes with her co-author in The Conversation\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":38102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[16,1128],"class_list":["post-38046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-und","tag-arts-sciences","tag-service"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe effects of extreme cold on body decomposition - UND Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In frigid conditions, microbes can help pinpoint time of death, UND scholar and co-author write in The Conversation\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The effects of extreme cold on body decomposition - UND Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In frigid conditions, microbes can help pinpoint time of death, UND scholar and co-author write in The Conversation\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UND Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-09-17T21:10:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/09\/240913-blizzard.web_.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"UND Today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"UND Today\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"UND Today\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00\"},\"headline\":\"The effects of extreme cold on body decomposition\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-17T21:10:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1223,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/240913-blizzard.web_.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"College of Arts & Sciences\",\"Service\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Around UND\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/\",\"name\":\"The effects of extreme cold on body decomposition - UND Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/240913-blizzard.web_.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-17T21:10:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00\"},\"description\":\"In frigid conditions, microbes can help pinpoint time of death, UND scholar and co-author write in The Conversation\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/240913-blizzard.web_.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/7\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/240913-blizzard.web_.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"UND researcher Lavinia Iancu found that studying microbes involved in decomposition can help\u00a0predict time elapsed since death in extreme cold conditions with high accuracy. (NPS\\\/Public Domain Mark 1.0).\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/2024\\\/09\\\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The effects of extreme cold on body decomposition\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/\",\"name\":\"UND Today\",\"description\":\"University of North Dakota\u2019s Official News Source\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00\",\"name\":\"UND Today\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"UND Today\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.und.edu\\\/und-today\\\/author\\\/und-today\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The effects of extreme cold on body decomposition - UND Today","description":"In frigid conditions, microbes can help pinpoint time of death, UND scholar and co-author write in The Conversation\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The effects of extreme cold on body decomposition - UND Today","og_description":"In frigid conditions, microbes can help pinpoint time of death, UND scholar and co-author write in The Conversation\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/","og_site_name":"UND Today","article_published_time":"2024-09-17T21:10:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/09\/240913-blizzard.web_.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"UND Today","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"UND Today","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/"},"author":{"name":"UND Today","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00"},"headline":"The effects of extreme cold on body decomposition","datePublished":"2024-09-17T21:10:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/"},"wordCount":1223,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/09\/240913-blizzard.web_.jpg","keywords":["College of Arts & Sciences","Service"],"articleSection":["Around UND"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/","name":"The effects of extreme cold on body decomposition - UND Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/09\/240913-blizzard.web_.jpg","datePublished":"2024-09-17T21:10:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00"},"description":"In frigid conditions, microbes can help pinpoint time of death, UND scholar and co-author write in The Conversation\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/09\/240913-blizzard.web_.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2024\/09\/240913-blizzard.web_.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"UND researcher Lavinia Iancu found that studying microbes involved in decomposition can help\u00a0predict time elapsed since death in extreme cold conditions with high accuracy. (NPS\/Public Domain Mark 1.0)."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2024\/09\/the-effects-of-extreme-cold-on-body-decomposition\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The effects of extreme cold on body decomposition"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/","name":"UND Today","description":"University of North Dakota\u2019s Official News Source","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/#\/schema\/person\/6d75904e56fd4224cbe50dab6857dc00","name":"UND Today","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9eee324a1176bbe1585f420813fecf8c433577d6e5e906a3084e0b264e5796b3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"UND Today"},"url":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/author\/und-today\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38046"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38161,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38046\/revisions\/38161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}