Just Science

In episode two of our Case Studies: Part 2 mini season, Just Science sat down with Jason Moran, Commander of Police at the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, to discuss how he and his colleagues set out to identify the remaining victims of John Wayne Gacy, decades after their bodies were found. Technological limitations can sometimes make it very challenging to identify decomposed human remains. In the...

In episode one of our Case Studies: Part 2 mini season, Just Science sat down with Kelly Ayers, an International Association for Identification certified Senior Crime Scene Analyst, to discuss how preliminary autopsy results can help investigators piece together a story of what happened at a crime scene. For crime scene investigators, preliminary autopsy results issued by forensic pathologists and...

In this special release episode, Just Science sat down with Dr. Michelle Aurelius, the Chief Medical Examiner for North Carolina, and Alfarena McGinty, the Chief Deputy Coroner for Marion County in Indianapolis, to discuss misperceptions regarding the nature of medicolegal death investigation among the public, criminal justice professionals, and policy makers. Over the past few years RTI Internati...

In episode four of our Human Trafficking Research season, Just Science sat down with Christina Melander, a research public health analyst at RTI International, to discuss the ongoing role of human trafficking survivors in advising and guiding systems professionals. Human trafficking systems professionals, such as researchers and policy makers, may value the opinions of those with formal academic c...

In episode three of our Human Trafficking Research season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Rebecca Pfeffer and Dr. Kelle Barrick, both research criminologists at RTI International, to discuss the importance of labor trafficking research as a specialized field within the broader scope of human trafficking. Labor trafficking cases can be difficult to identify and are thereby often overlooked and unde...

In episode two of our Human Trafficking Research season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Stacey Cutbush Starseed, a social scientist at RTI International, to discuss the importance of conducting human trafficking survivor outcome research. Service providers and treatment program directors are dedicated to the long-term health and recovery of human trafficking survivors; however, it is often difficu...

In episode 1 of our Human Trafficking Research season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Rebecca Pfeffer and Dr. Kelle Barrick, both research criminologists at RTI International, to discuss how human trafficking researchers use creative statistical approaches from other scientific disciplines to paint a comprehensive and meaningful picture of human trafficking prevalence across various communities. T...

In episode four of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification season, Just Science sat down with Katharine Pope, a Research Public Health Analyst at RTI International, Dr. Bruce Anderson, a Forensic Anthropologist with the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, and Joe Mullins, an Instructor at the New York Academy of Art, to discuss human identification using forensic anth...

In episode three of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification season, Just Science sat down with Lori Bruski and Amy Jenkinson, two Research Public Health Analysts at RTI International, to discuss interagency efforts to compile crime, missing persons, and decedent information in comprehensive databases. In the digital age, criminal justice information can be uploaded into datab...

In episode two of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification season, Just Science sat down with Bryan Johnson, the Major Incident Program Manager in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Latent Print Unit, to discuss how postmortem prints can be used to help identify unknown decedents. One of the cheapest, easiest, and fastest methods of identifying individuals is through fricti...

In episode one of our Applications of Forensic Science for Human Identification season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Heather McKiernan, a Research Forensic Scientist at RTI International, and Ashley Rodriguez, a Research Public Health Analyst at RTI International, to discuss the use of forensic genetic genealogy in identifying human remains. Oftentimes, unknown human remains are recovered fully...

In episode four of our Case Studies: Part 1 mini season, Just Science sat down with Leighton D'Antoni, the Assistant District Attorney in Dallas County, Texas, to discuss how forensic genetic genealogy was used as an investigative tool to help solve a series of violent cold cases. In the 1980s, several violent sexual assaults occurred in Dallas County, Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana. These cases...

In episode three of our Case Studies Part 1 mini season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Sharon Moses, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Northern Arizona University, to discuss forensic archaeology and locating victims of “no-body” homicides. Forensic archaeologists can play a critical role in body recovery and search strategies for locating human remains because homicide offenders' choices...

In episode two of our Case Studies Part 1 mini season, Just Science sat down with Stacey Chepren, member of a trial team for prosecuting federal criminal misconduct cases, to discuss a fatal pedestrian hit-and-run involving trace and digital evidence. On a quiet morning in the city limits of Las Vegas, a pedestrian in a well-lit crosswalk was struck by an impaired driver who left the scene. There...

In episode one of our Case Studies Part 1 mini season, Just Science sat down with Michael Fagert, a certified latent print examiner at the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, to discuss a latent print phenomenon that is not often seen in casework. There are very few instances of identifiable fingerprints on cartridge cases recovered from crime scenes as the firing process introduces adverse physical a...

In episode four of our Enhancing Conviction Integrity through Forensics mini-season, Just Science sat down with Patti Powers and John Wilkinson, two Attorney Advisors with AEquitas to discuss the application of best practices in maintaining the integrity of a conviction. Attorneys hold the responsibility of seeking justice for victims and their families and, therefore, must treat each case with an...

In episode three of our Enhancing Conviction Integrity through Forensics mini-season, Just Science sat down with Jim Markey, a Senior Research Public Health Analyst with RTI International to discuss the critical role of law enforcement in maintaining the integrity of a conviction. Law enforcement officers are oftentimes the “gatekeeper” of information on any given case, including details about the...

In episode two of our Enhancing Conviction Integrity through Forensics mini-season, Just Science sat down with Amy Durall, a Project Manager with the International Association of Chiefs of Police to discuss the incorporation of advocacy into the judicial proceedings. Advocates play a critical role in addressing the needs of a victim or family, as well as providing insight to other allied professio...

In episode one of our Enhancing Conviction Integrity through Forensics mini-season, Just Science sat down with Patricia Powers, an Attorney Advisor with AEquitas to discuss the concept of Conviction Integrity and how practitioners can utilize a multidisciplinary team around them. Attorneys, law enforcement agents, advocates, medical professionals, and crime laboratory staff all play crucial roles...

In part-two of the final episode of our Strengthening the Forensic Workforce season, Just Science continued the conversation with Dr. Peter Stout, Dr. Ray Wickenheiser, and Matthew Gamette discussing the future of the forensic workforce. FEPAC-accredited institutions provide high quality forensic science education for undergraduate and graduate students. However, coursework alone does not adequate...

In the eighth episode of our Strengthening the Forensic Workforce season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Peter Stout, President of the Houston Forensic Science Center, Dr. Ray Wickenheiser, Director of the New York State Police Crime Laboratory System, and Matthew Gamette, Director of the Idaho State Police Forensic Services Laboratory System, to discuss their perspectives on forensic science trai...

In episode seven of our Strengthening the Forensic Workforce season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Karen Scott, an Associate Professor, Forensic Toxicology Consultant, and Director of the Master of Science in Forensic Science program at Arcadia University, and Dr. Jarrad Wagner, a Professor and Director in the Oklahoma State University School of Forensic Sciences, to discuss research collaboratio...

In episode six of our Strengthening the Forensic Workforce season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Brooke Kammrath, a Professor of Forensic Science at the University of New Haven and Assistant Director of the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science, and Dr. Tatiana Trejos, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forensic and Investigative Science at West Virginia University, to discuss caree...

In episode five of our Strengthening the Forensic Workforce season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Robin Cotton, Director of the Master of Science Program in Biomedical Forensic Sciences at Boston University School of Medicine, and Dr. Daniele Podini, a professor in the Department of Forensic Sciences at the George Washington University, to discuss Forensic Biology and DNA. Forensic biology can be...

In episode four of our Strengthening the Forensic Workforce season, Just Science sat down with Assistant Professor Jessica Zarate and 5th year student Kristen Szabelski at Madonna University in Michigan as well as Dr. Christine Picard, an Associate Professor and Director of the Forensic and Investigative Sciences Program at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, or IUPUI, to discuss th...