Forensic researchers Katie Bygarski, left, and Helene LeBlanc examine a pig carcass at the Whitehorse landfill on Wednesday. (Dave Croft/CBC)

Some Ontario researchers are in Whitehorse to find out how insects there help carcasses decompose, which could help police investigators determine the time of death in northern murder cases.

No research currently exists on the role insects play on decomposing bodies in the North, said Helene LeBlanc, an assistant professor of forensic science at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa, Ont.

"We're all entomologists here, and we love knowing a lot more, anything we can learn," LeBlanc told CBC News.

"We don't know anything about the species up here, so that's our main interest. I think curiosity is what's really getting us."

A few forensic surprises

Graduate student Kate Bygarski will spend the next five weeks collecting information from three carcasses — two pigs and a wolf — that have been rotting at the Whitehorse landfill since Monday.

Bygarski, who is studying forensic bioscience at the Ontario university, said she has already noticed a few surprises on the carcasses over the past few days.

"Quite a few of the flies that we're finding are quite a bit bigger than we expected, coming from southern Ontario," she observed on Wednesday.

"We're interested to see whether they are the same species and just larger, or if they are a completely different species entirely."

Bygarski said she is photographing the carcasses — which are being kept in a secluded part of the landfill — as they decompose, as well as collecting insect eggs, larvae and adults that appear on the carcasses.

She will also collect soil samples that will be analyzed back in Oshawa, she added.

Crucial information

The research project is a partnership between the university, the RCMP and Yukon College.

Cpl. Jim Giczi, a forensic identification specialist with the Yukon RCMP, said information on how northern insects help with decomposition can be crucial to police investigators.

"Bug activity on a body can determine time of death — that's exactly what we want," Giczi said.

"There's also decompositional rates that can be determined from how a body breaks down."

LeBlanc said such information can be used not only in homicide cases, but also in poaching investigations and in cases of neglect.

"Larvae under a bandage could indicate that a patient was not getting proper care," she said.

LeBlanc said it is exciting to be conducting research in such a new field, and she credited the RCMP for making the project happen.

"I think if you can have supporters like that, that are incredibly enthusiastic about your work and are keen on getting the information, then it's certainly a big positive," she said.

Results from the research study should be ready within a year, LeBlanc said.

With files from the CBC's Dave Croft