If Gil Grissom of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation were a real person, he would be at Penn State this May, digging through pig corpses to satiate his character's admitted obsession with insects.

Penn State's Annual Forensic Entomology Workshop will be coming to the Frost Entomological Museum on campus May 25-27, teaching attendees the proper way to handle insects on a crime scene.

Ke Chung Kim, professor of entomology, created the course 12 years ago to "train forensic investigators and coroners in using insects in homicide," he said.

The course is based upon the principle that forensic investigators will be able to determine time of death "based on the type and age of insects," R.P. Withington III, coordinator of the workshop, said.

"We are interested in how to use insects as evidence," Withington added.

The workshop uses pig corpses, which are prepared several days in advance, to simulate human corpses and allows participants to collect and view bugs that the pigs attract after being left in a field for days, Kim said.

"We do teach how to collect and preserve," Withington said, because occasionally forensic investigators need to see live as well as preserved insects.

The basic concept behind the workshop is the fact that insects gathered on a body in a homicide investigation can frequently be used to determine time of death, he said.

These insects are sometimes disregarded and cleared away, when they can actually be used as evidence in a crime scene, Withington said.

He said the course is "aiming pretty much specifically at police and troopers," but that coroners, students and interested entomologists from around the world have attended in the past.

"The course is primarily setup to help instruct crime scene investigators," Withington said.

James McNeil (graduate-entomology) said he will be attending this year's workshop.

There's a whole ecosystem of insects that feed only on dead things, McNeil said, and "being able to see those creatures and the way they interact sounds really exciting."

"With all the CSI shows and whatnot now, it's an aspect of entomology that the public really seems to love," he added.

He said that while the conference is geared mostly toward active members of the law enforcement community, it still has "a lot to offer students, especially those interested in these types of careers."

"I'm really looking forward to the pig part, but I'm not sure what to expect," McNeil said.

To find more information and download a registration form for the workshop, visit http://www.ento.psu.edu/ ForensicSC/index.htm.