RTN Soil is a product from Natural Transition Limited. The company was founded in 2017 after identifying the need through its sister brand The Woodland Burial Company.
Natural Transition Limited works with US based Verde Products Inc to develop and distribute environmentally beneficial methods for the disposition of human and animal cadavers and cremated remains around the world.
The products supplied by Natural Transition Limited have been in development and tested for over 10 years. Both Verde Products and Natural Transition Limited have worked in partnership and been advised by some of the leading experts in the field including:
Dr David Carter – Professor of Forensic Science
David joined our team to help understand the processes which our organic mixtures use to make the nutrients in cremated remains available to plants.
He is the Assistant Dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics as well as Director of Forensic Sciences and Associate Professor of Forensic Science at Chaminade University of Honolulu. He earned a Master of Science in forensic archaeology from Bournemouth University, UK, and a doctorate from James Cook University, Australia.
David investigates postmortem microbiology and the processes associated with cadaver decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems with a focus on the fate of carbon and nutrients.
He is widely respected in his field and is an extremely valuable asset to us in our ongoing research.
Dr Sarah Kiley Schoff – Anthropologist
Sarah is a biological anthropologist and practicing forensic anthropologist with experience working on forensic investigations in numerous states in the United States. She received her BA in Anthropology in 2000 from the University of Maine, her MS in Human Biology from the University of Indianapolis in 2007, and doctorate through the University of Florida in 2017.
Sarah’s research involves the study of human taphonomy, which is the study of decomposition over time and the natural processes that impact preservation. Early in her career, she worked on several mass disaster incidents, including the World Trade Center Disaster, the crash of American Airlines Flight 587, and search and recovery following Hurricane Katrina.
She has experience implementing quality assurance procedures that adhere to the highest US national and international scientific standards (ASCLD, ISO), guidelines (NIST, SWG) and recommendations (NAS 2009).
Sarah has been qualified to provide expert witness testimony by state courts in criminalistics and forensic anthropology. Her scientific technical reports have been submitted as evidence in criminal cases involving the search and recovery of human remains, examination and serological testing of biological evidence and analysis of skeletal trauma in forensic investigations.
She has taught thirteen different courses across seven institutions. Sarah has provided more than thirty forensic trainings and workshops to law enforcement and scientific professionals, co-authored and authored more than a hundred technical reports, presented ten independent, peer-reviewed research projects, and has been awarded ten individual grants and assistantships.
Dr Neal Haskell – Entomologist
Neal is a world-renowned forensic entomologist who has been instrumental in our testing and further development of RTN Soil. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Entomology, a Master of Science degree in Forensic Entomology, and a doctorate in forensic Entomology.
He was a Professor of Forensic Science and Biology at Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, IN and currently serves as a private international forensic entomology consultant to hundreds of law enforcement agencies across North America and in Europe. He holds adjunct appointments at Michigan State University, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Wisconsin.
Neal has board certification as a Board Certified Entomologist with the Entomological Society of America and is one of 15 members as a Diplomat of the American Board of Forensic Entomology.
Sherry Yarkosky – Plant and Soil Scientist
Sherry is a plant and soil specialist. It was Sherry’s understanding of pH and minerals on the anatomy of the root system that made her invaluable to the development of the RTN organic mixture.
She received a Bachelor of Science in both Biology and Chemistry from Illinois College and a Master’s degree in Science in Biological Sciences from Southern Illinois University with a thesis pertaining to the effects of low pH and heavy metals on the anatomy of the root system.
Her education continued with doctoral work in the plant department at Washington University (in St. Louis, MO), working on a project dealing with environmental stresses and its effect on the DNA in various plant populations. She left the program to work at Peabody Coal Company in both their engineering and environmental departments. The emphasis of this job was to monitor the effect of the coal mining process on the plant growth of new and old areas of the surface mine.
Sherry also worked at St. Louis University isolating proteins and ribosomal RNA (RNA codes for proteins) in bone cancer cells in an attempt to identify any part of the protein and/or the ribosomal RNA that was a characteristic of the cancerous cells but not found in normal bone cells.
She currently is employed as an analytical chemist and mapping specialist for KSI laboratory, bringing 28 years of experience working in the field of plant and soil chemistry.