Jim Russell

Jim Russell owns and operates IS IT HUMAN, LLC (www.isithuman.us) 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 is also an instructor for the Natural Awareness Tracking School (NATS) where he 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 for first responders.

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, the University of Virginia Center for Applied Biomechanics, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.