Jane Haskett Bock is a professor emerita in biology at the

University of Colorado, Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University o ...

Early life

Bock was born Jane Haskett. She intended to follow her mother’s footsteps as a chemist, but once in college, she decided to switch to botany. She received a bachelor's degree from

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, a master's degree from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

, and earned a PhD in Botany from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

in 1966. She has one daughter with husband and zoologist Carl E. Bock, where they were both directors of the "Research Ranch" in Arizona. Additionally, both taught at the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, the University of Colorado Denver, and the U ...

in 1968.

Career

In 1982, a medical examiner approached Bock and asked her to identify the food plants in the stomach of a murder victim. She created samples by chewing up food herself and comparing it to the contents of the victim’s stomach. Her work led the police to the killer, and she was regularly recruited to homicide investigations.

Impact

Bock was featured in an episode of

Forensic Files ''Forensic Files'', originally known as ''Medical Detectives'', is an American documentary television program that reveals how forensic science is used to solve violent crimes, mysterious accidents, and outbreaks of illness. The show was origin ...

in which she helped police catch a killer by identifying a strain of grass that was found at the crime scene, on the body, and on the suspect’s shoes. By proving that the grass from all the sources was identical, she helped police link the suspect to the crime and convict the murderer. After their time at the "Research Ranch" in Arizona, Bock and her husband published a book in 2000 about their work, ''The View from Bald Hill''. She is also a significant member of the following groups: *Forensic Botany, LLC. Founding member. *American Academy of Forensic Sciences *Botanical Society of America *Society for International Conservation *Society for Conservation Biology *British Ecological Society *International Association for Identification *Necrosearch International, Ltd (Charter Member) * California Botanical Society

Awards & Certificates

* 2000 Outstanding Women of 1972 (British List) * Hunt Botanical Library Listing * Charles A. Lindbergh Fellow * Hazel Barnes Prize for Research and Teaching, University of Colorado, Boulder Campus, 1997. * Boulder Faculty Assembly Service Award, 1999 * Lesley Hewes Award for Best Paper - 1998-9.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bock, Jane Haskett Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Duke University alumni Indiana University Bloomington alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni 21st-century American botanists