The Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation

The Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation and the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education are now officially on YouTube. Our channel is CFSRE. In our first video, we take a tour of the Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation building and state of the art laboratory facilities and instruments. Subscribe to our channel for updates on new videos.

The Center for Forensic Science Research and Education will be offering two upcoming courses in the Fall of 2013 on the topics of Forensic Archaeology Recovery and Techniques for Optimizing Evidence Collection. Taught by frequent Center faculty members including Program Director Jill Yeakel, SANE nurse Christine Campbell, forensic biologist Dr. Christian Westring, and forensic archaeologist Kimberlee Moran, these two classes will introduce forensic scientists, law enforcement officers, and first-responders to be the best practices of evidence collection and recovery.

Forensic Archaeology to Maximize Evidence Recovery will be taught over two days in the Rutgers Pinelands Field Station in New Lisbon, NJ September 13-14, 2013. Visit the course page to learn more and register.

Techniques for Optimizing Evidence Collection will be held at the Center in Willow Grove, PA October 16-18, 2013. Visit the course page to learn more and register.

The deadline to apply for the summer 2013 G. John DiGregorio Summer Science Program for high school students at the Forensics Mentors Institute is approaching. All application materials are due by March 31, 2013. Interviews with qualified applicants will be held in April and the twelve accepted students will be notified in May. The program starts on July 1st and runs for eight weeks, culminating in the annual Presentation Day on Saturday, August 24th at Arcadia University.

For more information about the program and instructions on how to apply, visit the FMI Program Page. Don’t hesitate to call us with any questions at 215-366-1591.

The G. John DiGregorio Summer Science Program at the Forensics Mentors Institute is a full-time, eight week summer program held annually during the summer in Willow Grove, a suburb of Philadelphia. Twelve high school students are given orientation in laboratory safety and practice, analytical laboratory skills, and chemistry and biology. Students are assigned hands-on research projects in teams of three and guided by a forensic science graduate student mentor from Arcadia University’s MSFS Program. The program prepares students for college and beyond, opening their eyes to opportunities in a scientific career. Many alumni have gone on to study at prestigious universities and have established careers in a wide variety of fields post graduation. Projects from the program have been presented at such national conferences as the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Northeastern Association of Forensic Sciences (NEAFS). Student applicants are eligible for scholarships and travel stipends.

In 2011 the Foundation was awarded a grant by the National Safety Council to conduct research on standardization in laboratories nationwide for driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) testing. The final reports of the surveys conducted in 2012 are now posted on the DUID Grant page for anyone to read and download as PDF’s. This year the project’s steering committee will utilize the data collected in the published surveys to publish recommendations to laboratories to help standardize testing. Visit the DUID Grant page to learn more about this initiative and read the Toxicology, DRE, and TSRP Surveys.

This week the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS), led by President Robert Barsley and President-Elect and Foundation Executive Director Dr. Barry Logan, has released a statement in support of the National Insitutute of Justice (NIJ) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for their establishment of the new National Commission on Forensic Science. This is part of a new initiative to strengthen and enhance the promotion of forensic science. Dr. Logan said:

“We are excited with the creation of a group that will bring our membership and its expertise together with policymakers, educators, researchers, attorneys and judges, and provide forensic science the kind of Federal support enjoyed by other fields such as engineering and medicine.”

Dr. Logan, who is currently in Washington D.C. at the annual AAFS Meeting with several of the Center faculty, staff, and students, will be sworn in as the 2013 president of AAFS this week. He and the organization are committed to the support of forensic science initiatives nationwide.

Freelance writer Bernard Tulsi has written a piece about the benefits and necessity of mentorship in the laboratory sciences in the January/February issue of Lab Manager Magazine, and Foundation Executive Director Dr. Barry Logan is quoted extensively. The article, entitled “Mentoring Matters,” Dr. Logan details the ways in which new forensic scientists can benefit from a mentor-protégé relationship, and how this has largely become a lost art in the forensic science community nationwide. In addition, he explains the mentorship model as employed by NMS Labs, of which is the national director of forensic services, and at the Foundation. Mentorship has long been a crucial part of the Center’s activities, with its premier program, The Forensics Mentors Institute, having been founded upon the concept of student mentorship. In the FMI program, four MS of forensic science graduate students guide twelve local high school students through the processes of laboratory research and analysis, group teamwork, writing and preparing their results in the forms of posters, oral presentations, and written papers, and extensive preparation for public speaking. Visit the FMI Research Page to read the abstracts of the projects conducted by last year’s groups The FMI Program is now accepting applications for its 2013 program. High school students, parents, and teachers can click here learn more about this established local program and to apply. If you would like to talk to Dr. Logan and the Foundation staff more extensively about how they use the mentorship model to guide and impact our high school students and to help them prepare for college and a career in the sciences, consider visiting our Third Annual Open House to be held at the Foundation in Willow Grove, PA on Saturday March 2nd. We will begin at 9:00 am with a continental breakfast, a formal presentation about the summer program, and an open Q&A session, followed by a tour of the facility and a fun lab exercise. To RSVP, contact Katherine Sas at katherine.sas@frfoundation.org.

Applications are now open for the summer 2013 G. John DiGregorio Summer Science Program at the Forensics Mentors Institute. This annual program, which is hosted by the Center for Forensic Science Research and Education in Willow Grove, PA is an intensive eight-week program for high school students age sixteen and older to introduce them to the fundamentals of forensic science research. Students spend the summer working in small groups on a particular research project, doing laboratory research with state-of-the-art forensic instrumentation, collecting, analyzing, and interpreting their findings, and compiling their conclusions into a final poster and an oral presentation. Each team of students is supervised by a graduate student from Arcadia University who mentors their group in the processes and field of forensic science research. To see examples of previous research products, visit the FMI Research Page.

The 2013 program will start on July 1st and run until August 23rd, with a final Presentation Day on Saturday, August 24th. Applications are now open for review, and are due on March 31st. Interviews with applicants will be held throughout the month of April and students will be notified of their acceptance in May. Click here to apply.

In addition, The Forensics Mentors Institute will be holding its third annual Open House on Saturday, March 2nd from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. All prospective students, teachers and guidance counselors, and parents are invited to join us for a continental breakfast, presentation about the FMI program, and a Q&A session. This will be followed by a tour of the Foundation building and laboratory and a fun forensic science activity. Throughout, guests will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with each other and the FMI staff. Please RSVP with the anticipated number of attendees no later than February 24th. To RSVP, please call Katherine Sas at 215-366-1591. We look forward to seeing you there!

The Center for Forensic Science Research & Education will once again be holding its Forensic Archaeology to Maximize Evidence Recovery course May 6-7, 2013. This course was previously held in April of 2012 and was a huge success. Student feedback included comments that the “course provided exactly what I was looking for-explanation of the proper techniques used in excavating a clandestine grave,” and that  ”it was great to do a hands on course.” On May 6-7, The Center will host a repeat of this course in conjunction with Forensic Archaeology Recovery, the Association of Women in Forensic Science, Forensic Outreach, and Rutgers University Pinelands Field Station. Taught by professional forensic archaeologist Kimberlee Moran, this two-day course will consist of in-class lectures and extensive hands-on field exercises to give students a thorough understanding of archaeological theory and methodology. This course is open to law enforcement and forensic professionals. Registration is now open, so visit the Course Page for more information and to register. The registration deadline is April 22, 2013.

The Center for Forensic Science Research & Education is pleased to announce its first semester-length continuing education course: The Certificate Program in Forensic Toxicology. Designed for bench-level scientists with a bachelor’s degree or higher in the life sciences and at least six months work experience, this fifteen week course will reinforce and cover in greater depth current principles and practice of state of the art analytical toxicology and the latest techniques, and will begin to prepare the participants for such exams as the American Board of Forensic Toxicology (ABFT) Diplomate or Specialist Exam and the Forensic Toxicology Certification Board (FTCB) Exam. The course will run Thursdays from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at the Fredric Rieders Foundation in Willow Grove, PA, from January 17-May, 29, 2013. Those interested should fill out the application form. The application deadline is January 7th, 2013. Seating is limited, so it is recommended that all interested applicants apply as soon as possible. For the full course schedule, list of instructors, and course brochure, visit the Course Page.

Anisha and Center Executive Director Dr Barry Logan discuss Anisha's research

Click here to read a profile of second-year Master of Science in Forensic Science student Anisha Paul published in the Arcadia University news Bulletin. In addition to being a part of the master’s program here at the Center, Anisha acted as a mentor in the 2012 Forensics Mentors Institute summer program, in which she led a research project titled “Method Development and Validation for the Analysis of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase (FAAH) Inhibitors.” She will present a poster based on this research at the upcoming annual American American Academy of Forensic Sciences conference in Washington, DC this February.

Anisha Paul with FMI students Colette Trouillot, Bryan Melilli, and Davon Whitest