Just Science

In episode six of the forensic advancement season, Just Science interviews Ben Swanholm, Evidence Screening Section Supervisor at the Phoenix Police Department to discuss millennials and their future role in the forensic sciences. Millennials are a polarizing and often stereotyped population. Whether it’s diamonds or dining chains, they seem to be the scapegoats for the decline of many industries. Ben Swanholm believes that millennials are a group of people molded from the legacy given to them. Listen along as he discusses technological growth, social identity, and generational values as they integrate into the forensic sciences. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Humanitarian and Human Rights Resource Center (HHRRC) seeks to promote humanitarian and human rights in the field of forensic sciences and the NIJ. The FTCoE will help to support key international agencies chosen by the HHRRC to improve the practice of forensic science and strengthen its impact on humanitarian and human rights issues through training and education and dissemination of best practices and guidelines. Some of the main focuses for the program are evidence preservation, training, research, and capacity building around the world. Research discussed in this Just So You Know episode includes looking at skeletal remains from the mass violence in Cambodia, develop the capacity of anthropology in Mexico, how nerve agents are incorporated into bones, and much more. Just Science interviews Dr. Douglas Ubelaker about the HHRRC’s efforts and his contributions to an in-brief about how the NIJ’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence aids their mission. This

In episode five of the forensic advancement season, Just Science interviews Katie Fetherston, the Laboratory Director for the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, Brian Hoey, the director of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Crime Laboratory Division, and Jeremy Triplett, the Laboratory Supervisor for Kentucky State Police to discuss the ASCLD Rapid DNA committee efforts. In addition to implementing Rapid DNA technology in law enforcement units for investigative leads, the technology can be used in disaster victim identification (DVI). The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors (ASCLD) recognizes that the forensic science community can aid these efforts. Listen along as Katie Fetherston, Brian Hoey, and Jeremy Triplett discus how Law enforcement, DVI, and forensic laboratory subcommittees of the ASCLD Rapid DNA Task Force provide coordination and oversight, assisting in facilitating communication, along with developing best practices and guidance documents. This season is funded by the National Inst

In episode four of the Forensic Advancement season, Just Science interviews Dr. David Christiansen, a licensed psychologist in the State of Colorado, about psychological survival in a violent career. Dr. Christiansen discusses what trauma is and how to be aware of those around you that have been affected by it. Listen along as Just Science learns what can aid in psychological wellness and how self-awareness is a major step in developing resiliency in the profession. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In episode three of the forensic advancement season, Just Science interviews Dr. Paul Speaker from West Virginia University about THE JURISDICTIONAL RETURN ON investment for DNA Databases. With the help of FORESIGHT crime labs can have not only an emotional argument but also an economical argument for testing all sexual assault kits. Just Science explores questions in this episode such as, should labs test all sexual assault kits? Should labs prioritize by if it was a consent case? does this data have more than just a societal impact? Stay tuned as Dr. Speaker leads us through how individualized crime lab DNA data can aid crime labs competing for scarce resources. This month the FTCoE will be releasing a report written on Forensic DNA Unit Efficiency Improvement Program EIP. This episode as well as the report is available at www.forensicCOE.org. Follow the FTCOE on Facebook and twitter, or sign up for the newsletter to be notified when the report is released. This season is funded by the National Instit

In episode two of the forensic advancement season, Just Science interviews Dr. Cecelia Crouse, formally the Crime Laboratory Director for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, about the 2009 national academies report. The conversation also dives into Dr. Crouses’ experience, leadership and the differences between academic and laboratory science. This month the FTCoE will be releasing a report written with Dr. Crouse on Forensic DNA Unit Efficiency Improvement Program EIP. This episode as well as the report is available at forensicCOE.org. Follow the FTCOE on Facebook and twitter, or sign up for the newsletter to be notified when the report is released. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

The Forensic Advancement season of Just Science will focus on many areas that challenge forensic leadership within the community. The majority of these interviews were recorded at the 2018 ASCLD Annual Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia. If you have an interesting case and would like to be a guest on our next season, recorded at the 2019 ASCLD symposium, please visit our podcast landing page at ForensicCOE.ORG/just-science-podcast. In episode one of the forensic advancement season, Just Science interviews John Collins an instructor and consultant from Critical Victories, and Jay Henry, laboratory director at the Utah Department of public safety. Listen along as our guests discuss how crime labs can create environments that are more appealing to the younger generation of professionals and what challenges directors are having with retention. Stay tuned to find out about the delicate balance of casework completion and retention strategies. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Tec

In the fourth episode of our medicolegal death investigation special release season, Just Science interviews John Fudenberg, the Coroner for Clark County, where he discusses the tragic events of the 2017 concert shooting in Las Vegas, and the aftermath that followed.   This episode will focus on lessons learned and how other coroner offices can prepare now for unforeseen incidents. John Fudenberg also stresses the importance of knowing who to contact and how critical a family assistance center can be for victims, families, responders and scene investigators during a mass casualty event. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In the third episode of our medicolegal death investigation special release season, Just Science interviews Bobbi Jo O’neal, the Chief Deputy Coroner of Charleston, South Carolina, who discusses the unique skills that forensic nurses can provide as coroners. Listen along as we discuss how Charleston County has learned to deal with mass fatality scenes and infant deaths by creating multidisciplinary teams, developing consistent interviewing methods, and other helpful techniques that the community can easily adapt. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In the second episode of our medicolegal death investigation special release season, Just Science interviews John Fudenberg, the Coroner for Clark County, Nevada. Listen along as Just Science explores commonalities and differences between the coroner and medical examiner systems to highlight pervading issues and possible improvements within the MDI community. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In the first episode of our medicolegal death investigation special release season, Just Science interviews Kelly Keyes, the supervising deputy coroner of Orange County, California to give an overview about the coroners and medical examiners professions and to identify key topics for discussion in the fields today. Listen along as our host Dr John Morgan, and our guest co-host Dr. Jeri Ropero-Miller, talk around staffing issues, available resources for identifying missing and unidentified remains, and the vicarious trauma experienced within the community. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In the sixth episode of the 2018 R&D Season, Just Science speaks with Dr. Michael Edge of UC Davis about his research with record linkage of CODIS profiles with SNP genotypes. Can you tell if a set of CODIS markers and a set of SNP genotypes match the same person? Just science discusses with Doc the possibilities of linkages between CODIS and SNPs databases for identity and familial matching, and dispel preconceptions associated with them. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In the fifth episode of our 2018 NIJ R&D Season, Just Science speaks with Dr. Jamie Wieland and Dr. Christopher Mulligan of Illinois State University about assessing the impact of implementing portable mass spectrometers for on-site drug evidence processing. Listen along as Just Science explores cross-disciplinary research to determine the analytical, legal, and fiscal impacts of adopting drug screening protocols using portable mass spectrometers in the field. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In episode four of the 2018 NIJ R&D Season, Just Science speaks with Dr. Shamsi Berry, from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, about her research with standardizing a large-scale, whole-body CT image database. In 2010 the Office of the Medical Investigator for New Mexico was awarded an NIJ grant where they did high-resolution whole-body CT scans.  Fast forward six years later where another NIJ grant was awarded to create a free-access Decedent CT Database from those whole body CTs.  There will be over 15,000 autopsies that captures key data and whole-body CT images, which will be an invaluable resource to forensic researchers when it releases in late 2018.   This episode of Just Science is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In the third episode of the 2018 NIJ R&D Season, Just Science speaks with Dr. David Carter, Director and Associate Professor of Forensic Sciences at Chaminade University of Honolulu, about his research, “Evaluating the Skin Microbiome as Trace Evidence on Common Surface Types.” Microbiome trace evidence samples can be tracked back to individuals with high accuracy and used to narrow pools of suspects even when multiple people have touched a surface. The potential for microorganisms to reveal whether a particular person has touched an object is substantial. Listen along as Dr. Morgan and Dr. Carter discuss the implications of these findings as they apply to forensic science. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In the second episode of our new R&D Season, Just Science host Dr. John Morgan speaks with human population geneticist Dr. Kenneth Kid, Professor Emeritus of Genetics and Senior Research Scientist with 44 years under his belt at Yale University. With the advent of massively parallel sequencing, microhaplotypes have become a valuable new type of DNA marker for use in forensics. These markers have great potential through MPS not only because their statistical power can greatly exceed that of standard forensic markers typed by capillary electrophoresis, but because they are also excellent at quantifying biologic relationships without having to worry about the high mutation rates. Listen to the discussion surrounding microhaplotypes, from the history of mapping the human genome and the evolution of population genetics, to the implications on forensics that new research in this field is providing. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In the first episode of our new R&D Season, Just Science host Dr. John Morgan speaks with Dr. Bruce Budowle, the Executive Director of the Institute of Applied Genetics and Professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth. Did you know that if you swab a 1cm square area of skin you'll recover up to ten thousand bacterial cells? Microbiome profiling for forensic identification complements partial or inconclusive STR profiles to increase resolution for human source attribution. Performance assessment is underway and preliminary data indicate that the candidate panel can characterize human-based selected microbes even at initially low abundant body sites. Listen along as John and Bruce explore research surrounding human microbiome flora and their implications on forensic science. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just So You Know: In Remembrance of Dr. Cantu This Just So You Know episode was produced in remembrance of Dr. Antonio Cantu who passed away Friday, June 29, 2018. "Dr. Cantu worked as a Forensic Scientist for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and served as Chief Scientist for the Forensic Service Division of U.S. Secret Service (USSS) until he retired in 2007.  Dr. Cantu’s expertise included the chemistry of documents and fingerprints.    With a relentless commitment to education, love of knowledge and passion for his craft, Antonio touched, inspired and empowered everyone who knew him." Please click here to read Dr. Cantu's obituary. Listen along as Joseph Stephens, from the FBI Laboratory, discusses how Dr. Cantu shaped his forensic career and overall outlook on work and friendship.

In episode twelve of our Drugs Season, Just Science speaks to Dr. Paul Speaker, from West Virginia University, about the economic burden our justice system has from opioid deaths. They are estimating that the crime labs alone are spending around 270 milions dollars a year on the opioid crisis. Laboratory budgets are not growing fast enough to handle this drain on resources. Listen along as Just Science delves into the data of the opioid crisis. This episode will conclude the FTCOE's season on drugs. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

In episode eleven of our Drugs Season, Just Science visits Atlanta for the 45th Annual ASCLD symposium to visit with Dr. Barry Logan, Sr. Vice President of Forensic Science Initiatives and Chief of Forensic Toxicology at National Medical Services, to discuss the convergence of drivers of the national opioid epidemic. Follow along to learn what's in these novel compounds, and why it matters to illicit drug manufacturers, regulatory agencies, and local crime labs. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.