Source: Shawn K. West, MSFS, ABC Secretary The Spring 2021 American Board of Criminalists (ABC) Newsletter is now available. Click HERE for full issue. Trace Examiners are encouraged to see the announcement on page 5.
Source: Sherri L. Kacinko, PhD, 2020-21 Toxicology Section Chair The AAFS Standards Board (ASB) recently released three documents that may be of interest: ASB Standard 121, Standard for the Analytical Scope and Sensitivity of Forensic Toxicological Testing of Urine in Drug-Facilitated Crime Investigations, First Edition: You may recall that this document was recently recirculated for […]
Source: John A. Williams, PhD, Anthropology Section Historian The year is 1977, 5 of the 14 charter members of the Anthropology Section are present. From left to right: Ellis Kerley, Jerry Snyder, Fred Hulse (not a section member), Clyde Snow, Steven Rosen, and Rodger Heglar.
Source: Donald E. Shelton, JD, PhD, Jurisprudence Section Chair Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently created a Task Force of Forensic Science and has appointed two AAFS Fellows to join the group. In creating the group, the Governor said, “A fair trial is at the core of the American criminal justice system. While forensic science is […]
Source: Sherri L. Kacinko, PhD, 2020-21 Section Chair I would like to start off with a huge thank you and congratulations to everyone who participated in the first (and hopefully last) ever Virtual AAFS meeting! It was not the 2021 meeting we were expecting a year ago, but toxicologists are adaptable and because of all […]
Source: Karen J. Nobles, MFS, Questioned Documents Section Chair The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Questioned Documents (QD) section presents the Maureen Casey-Owens Award for Best Paper or Poster given at a scientific meeting. The presentations are judged by several QD section members chosen by the Awards Committee Chair. The award is in recognition […]
Source: Kristy Kadash, PhD CALLING ALL DNA ANALYSTS QUESTION—If two labs are given the same mixture (as an electropherogram) and the same person of interest, how consistent are the statistical responses and categorical interpretations? And what factors explain any differences in responses? DNAmix2021 is a large-scale independent study being conducted to evaluate the extent of […]
Source: Shawn K. West, MSFS, ABC Vice President The American Board of Criminalistics is seeking two groups of subject matter experts to determine the cut scores for two new examinations in Biological Evidence Screening and Forensic DNA. Click HERE for more information.
Source: John A. Williams, PhD, Anthropology Section Historian Next year in Seattle, the Anthropology Section will be celebrating 50 years within the Academy. To celebrate, the 50th Anniversary Committee of the Anthropology Section will be sharing documents and other items of the section’s history each month. Click HERE to see the original letter from Ellis […]
As a reminder, the Section Business Meetings are next week. You MUST be registered for the AAFS Annual Scientific Meeting in order to attend any Section Business Meeting. Below are the dates and times of each Section Business Meeting (all times are set in Central Time): Monday, February 8 11:00 a.m. Jurisprudence Section 2:00 p.m. […]
Source: Denise C. Murmann, DDS, Odontology Section Program Chair The AAFS Annual Scientific Meeting is going to be virtual in February 2021, and a bit more spread out than we are used to. Here is a list of some of the dental highlights you may want to put on your calendar. Please note, all times […]
Source: Sherri L. Kacinko, PhD, Toxicology Section Chair The 2021 Annual Scientific Meeting is only two months away! The end of the most unusual of years is upon us and the 2021 AAFS annual meeting is fast approaching! Here are some updates and reminders on what will be happening between now and the meeting. The […]
Source: Sherri L. Kacinko, PhD, Toxicology Section Chair The ASB recently recirculated four documents that may be of interest: Comments will be accepted on the following documents until January 18, 2021: ASB Standard 098, Standard for Mass Spectral Data Acceptance in Forensic Toxicology, First Edition ASB Standard 113, Standard for Identification Criteria in Forensic Toxicology, First Edition […]
Source: Eleanor B. Vo, MD, Section Secretary 73rd AAFS Annual Scientific Meeting We are all excited about AAFS having its first Virtual Conference with the VFairs platform February 15-19, 2021. The meeting theme is One Academy Pursuing Justice Through Truth in Evidence. With pre-registration having a discount of 50% off and loads of meeting features […]
The AAFS Anthropology Section Nominating Committee is seeking nominations for the 2021-22 Program Co-Chair. The Nominating Committee consists of the past four Section Chairs, the current Section Chair, and the Anthropology Board of Directors representative. The past and current Section Chairs will serve as voting members and the Board representative will serve in an advisory […]
Source: Marin A. Pilloud, Anthropology Section Secretary Please email any nominations for the T. Dale Stewart Award to Kristen Hartnett-McCann (dr.khartnett@gmail.com) by February 1. Please see the following information excerpted from the Policy and Procedure Manual regarding this award. The T. Dale Stewart Award is an award presented to a current, former, or retired member, […]
Source: Thomas W. Vastrick, BS, Section Nominating Committee Chair The Questioned Documents Section Nominating Committee is accepting nominations for Section Officers. The Section Chair and Section Secretary are two-year terms; however, the Policy and Procedure Manual requires an annual vote for both positions. Current Section Chair Karen Nobles and Section Secretary Linda Mitchell are one […]
Source: Jason M. Paroff, JD, Section Chair The Digital & Multimedia Sciences (DMS) Section is seeking volunteers from the section to moderate 1.5-hour session blocks during our Scientific Program currently scheduled for February 18–19, 2020. We are looking to fill the following time slots: Thursday, February 18: 9:00 a.m. Central Time 10:30 a.m. Central Time […]
Source: Marin A. Pilloud, PhD, Section Secretary The ad hoc committee on outreach, engagement, retention, and recruitment is compiling a list of field schools, internships, and funding/scholarship/fellowship opportunities to share with the membership. If you have such an opportunity or know of a great one, please let us know so we can document and share […]
Source: Julie Howe, MBA, General Section Nominating Committee The General Section Nominating Committee, consisting of Julie Howe, David Zeliff, and T.L. Williams, announces a call for nominations for Section Chair and Section Secretary, both of whom will be elected during the section business meeting in February 2021. A list of officer responsibilities may be found at www.aafs.org in the […]