We explore how anthropology research facilities work, their role in helping improve crime-solving and what motivates people to give their bodies to science.

You may have heard about body farms, the research facilities where people donate dead bodies for scholarly research. But have you ever wondered what goes on in these places? What exactly are scientists doing with all these donated bodies? What mysteries are they trying to solve, and why?

Katie Zejdlik, a biological anthropologist and collections and facility curator at a forensic body farm, tells us why researching dead bodies is important and why you might find a kebab skewer in the lab among the calipers and microscopes.

Bestselling true-crime writer Suzy Spencer tours a body farm at Texas State University, where researchers study body decomposition in different settings to help those in forensic science and law enforcement fields.