The Forensic Institute Newsletter – October 2005

FIRNForum launched

Do you have a question about anything forensic? Do you want to get something off your chest? Do you want to find out what’s going on? Then maybe we have just the ticket.

FIRNForum, a bulletin board and chat area specifically for the forensic community under the auspices of the Forensic Institute Research Network (FIRN), has now been opened to anyone with a legitimate interest in forensic science and medicine, including postgraduate students. More information on the FIRNForum and how you can register can be found on our website..

Call for Papers for new open access online journal

The Editorial Board of the new open access online Journal are now looking for contributions. Peer reviewed papers, short communications, letters, and technical notes are just some of the content envisaged for the Journal.

More information can be found on out website.

FORREST Conference at Lincoln

FORREST (FORensic RESearch and Teaching) is an annual international academic conference organised jointly by FIRN and The Higher Education Academy. The purpose of FORREST is to present the latest and most relevant work in forensic research and teaching.

The conference provided excellent opportunities for informal networking and sharing of ideas as evidenced by delegates’ comments; “one of the most useful meetings I’ve attended ” .

On the morning of the London bombings it was particularly pertinent that we heard from Dr Ian Gibson MP on the conclusions of the Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee’s report on forensic science. Dr Gibson has promised to assist FIRN develop its activities and we look forward to working with others to pursue our purpose.

The enthusiasm of the delegates at the meeting confirmed that we have much valuable work to do. The Management Board of FIRN will be pursuing as many of the suggestions from the meeting as possible, including;

A second, possibly international, conference next year (FORREST 2006), again with support from the HEA
Online case materials for use in teaching
Online information resource of forensic practice
Online repository and search facility for student projects linked to
A Research Strategy for collaborative working, including a database of people and projects
Regional activities, including a proposed Regional FORREST conference in July 2006

And so to FORREST 2006, at which we hope that more evidence of the progress and work with the academic forensic community will be available to convince employers and practitioners of the value of the contribution of higher education to the forensic profession.

The full report from FORREST 2005 can be found on our website.

A wee treasure

When in New Orleans at the American Association of Forensic Sciences meeting we came across a super little hand-held microscope called a MiScope. Prof Jamieson has been demonstrating the MiScope and discussing its potential with people at a number of meetings around the UK. Feedback has been very positive and already there is a multi-wavelength version for use in questioned documents. The MiScope is now available in UK and Europe via The Institute at £160 plus VAT. Go to our website for more information.

Staffs scoops the prizes at FORREST

From a wide selection of posters on display at FORREST, the top three posters, all from Staffordshire University, were;

Catherine Kneale, “Using FTIR ATR-microscopy to determine the age of Biro ink”.

Sarah Fieldhouse, “The latent fingerprint sampler”.

Nicola Stone, Influence of subject age on the longevity of latent fingerprints”.

The wining poster was that of Sarah Fieldhouse. All of the poster entries received a copy of Andrew and Julie Jackson’s book, “Forensic Science”.

Law Society Update Seminar

Our seminar programme in partnership with the Law Society of Scotland and their Update programme continues with a one-day Identification seminar in Glasgow in November. Speakers include Sheriff Frank Crowe, Dr Adrian Linacre, Mr John Scott, Dr Alex Graham, and Mr Michael Bromby. Go to http://www.lawscot.org.uk/ and click Update Courses.

Talk, talk, talk

It seems no time at all since the AAFS meeting in New Orleans (and Prof Jamieson being stuck for 24 hours at Schipohl Airport!), but already it’s off to steamy Hong Kong where Prof Jamieson delivered the keynote lecture in the Forensic Education stream of the International Association of Forensic Sciences Conference on 25 th August (http://www.iafs2005.com/eng/index.php ).

Following delivery of his presentation on accreditation of expert witnesses at the conference on ‘Child Abuse and the Expert Witness’ organised by the Royal Society of Medicine and the Expert Witness Institute, Prof Jamieson will be in London speaking at the EWI’s Annual Conference (http://www.ewi.org.uk/seminars.asp#AnnualConf ) on 14 th October in a session on ‘assessing the authority of the expert witness’.

HUMID gets OFIS off to a great start

Our inaugural Online Forensic Institute Symposia (OFIS) was a great success.. The Human Identification E-Symposium (HUMID) was the first in the OFIS series; over 1,000 delegates from all over the globe attended and heard some of the world’s leading experts in DNA and fingerprints present and debate the issues.

The symposium can still be viewed, free, at http://www.humid.e-symposium.com/speaker-program.php . Some universities still use the presentations as teaching material.

The next OFIS will be on the topic of Mass Disasters and Death Investigation, probably in January 2006. A Call for Papers will be coming soon. News of other OFIS conferences will be updated on our website.

If you are interested in taking part, or have ideas for others, drop a note to firn@theforensicinstitute.com .

New consultants required

Much of The Institute’s casework is performed through our Consultants’ Network. The Network is international and intended to cover almost any forensic topic that we may be asked to deal with – a recent case request involved the issue of the existence of Red Mercury (it doesn’t!), another involved someone shining a torch at a helicopter and thereby allegedly endagering the safety of an aircraft. The increasing caseload at The Institute now means that we are interested in hearing from anyone who has expertise that could become part of The Institute’s Network.

If you are interested, or would like to recommend someone else, please contact Professor Jamieson confidentially on legal@theforensicinstitute.com . Please note that you must be an experienced scientist or forensic practitioner to be considered.

… and trainers too.

We are extending our involvement in the delivery of training and education programmes. In particular, our on-line modules are being expanded. We are seeking individuals who can write good, informative material for use in a wide range of on-line topics. These could be anything from basic statistics to advanced DNA analysis. You don’t necessarily need experience here; just be able to show that you can write in a way that can be understood by the course students. To arrange an informal chat drop a confidential note enquiry@theforensicinstitute.com