Is It Human?
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Members of the following agencies have attended
Is It Human? - Comparative Osteology for First Responders
Angel Search and Rescue
Black Diamond Search and Rescue
Blacksburg Rescue Squad
Blue and Gray Search and Rescue Dogs
Blue Ridge Mountain Rescue Group
Chesapeake Police Department
Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office - Search and Rescue
Commonwealth of Virginia Search and Rescue
Commonwealth Search and Rescue
DOGS - East
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
Greater Atlantic Rescue Dogs
Hampton Police Department
Hull's Tracking School
Imigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) - US Department of Homeland Security
K9 Alert
Maryland Search and Rescue
Mid-Atlantic D.O.G.S.
Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS)
Newport News Police Department
Norfolk Police Department
Ocean Park Volunteer Rescue Squad
Piedmont Search and Rescue
Pineland Resources
Prince William County, VA Police Department
Search and Rescue Tracking Institute
Shenandoah Mountain Rescue Group
Spartanburg County Search and Rescue
Suffolk Police Department
Tidewater Search and Rescue
TrotSAR Mounted Search and Rescue Team
Virginia Beach Police Department
Virginia Department of Emergency Management
Virginia Search and Rescue Dog Association
Department of Conservation and Recreation - Virginia State Parks
Virginia State Police
SRT Dive Team
York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office
Jim Russell
The Instructor
Jim Russell owns and operates IS IT HUMAN, LLC and has been an active member of the Commonwealth of Virginia Search and Rescue (COVSAR) program since 2014.
He is the Director of the Search and Rescue Tracking Institute (SARTI) and the former Group Commander of Tidewater Search and Rescue (TSAR).
Jim holds certifications as a Search Team Leader (STL), Management Team Member (MTM), and Tracking Technician (TT) from the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM).
In 2019, Jim became a VDEM Adjunct Instructor for the Virginia Ground Search and Rescue (GSAR) Academy and has been part of the instructor cadre for the Tracking Team Operations (formerly called F.A.S.T.) class, Search Team Operations class, and the Search Team Leadership class.
Jim has also been an instructor for the Natural Awareness Tracking School (NATS) and teaches human tracking and land navigation.
In addition to his instruction with VDEM and NATS, Jim is a recurring presenter at the Virginia Search and Rescue Conference providing classes in land navigation, human tracking, and comparative osteology.
Also in 2019, Jim launched The Russell Bone Atlas (www.RussellBoneAtlas.com), a free comparative osteology website that first responders can use while in the field to help identify bones. He has also been researching and developing his own workshops for comparative osteology, comparing and identifying human and non-human bones that are found during searches. He has attended comparative osteology workshops at Radford University, Western Carolina University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and University of Tennessee in Knoxville.
As the Director of SARTI, Jim has been heavily involved in recent research associated with the use of ultraviolet light in the recovery of human remains. Jim is actively involved in UV-related research projects with Dr. Robert Koester, Virginia Commonwealth University, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
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