Is It Human?

 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), former Group Commander of Tidewater Search and Rescue (TSAR), and owner of IS IT HUMAN, LLC, specializing in Search and Rescue/Recovery training including Comparative Osteology for First Responders, land navigation, and human tracking.

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. Most recently, as part of a larger SARTI research project, Jim has been involved with researching the use of alternative light source (ALS) technology in the ultraviolet spectrum for the detection of human skeletal remains. SARTI is working closely with the Virginia Department of Emergency Management, Virginia Commonwealth University and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the development of this new technology for search and recovery missions. Jim co-authored Assessing the Effectiveness of Alternate Light Sources in Search for Skeletal Remains with Olivia Thompson which was published in the July 2025 Journal of Forensic Science.

Jim was awarded the Tidewater Search and Rescue team award in 2016, the Search and Rescue Tracking Institute team award in 2019, the U.S. Department of Navy's Navy Civilian Service Commendation Award in 2024, and the Virginia Search and Rescue Council's Lisa Hannon Award in 2025.

PUBLICATIONS

Russell, J. A., (2019). Animal vs. Human Bones: Vol. 1 - White-Tail Deer. Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Thompson, O. L., Simmons, T., Russell, J. A., Stockman, S., & Swall, J. (2024). Assessing the effectiveness of alternative light sources in search for skeletal remains (Master’s thesis, Virginia Commonwealth University). Department of Forensic Science, Virginia Commonwealth University.

Russell, J. A., & Koester, R. J. (n.d.). Detecting human remains with an alternate light source: Bone detection trail experiment (Draft manuscript).

Speiden, R., Pyeatt, R., Russell, J. (n.d.). Detecting human remains with an alternate light source: Case studies (Draft manuscript). Search and Rescue Tracking Institute.

 Copyright 2024