HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – The Marshall University Forensic Science Graduate Program will host its Forensic Science Research Day to showcase research conducted by graduate students during internships from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Friday, April 27, at the MU Forensic Science Center. The event is open to the public.
Last summer, the forensic science graduate students worked in crime laboratories across the country on research projects involving DNA analysis, digital forensics, forensic chemistry and crime scene investigation.
The Forensic Science Center provides students with a unique environment for education and training in preparation for internships because it houses the nationally recognized and FEPAC-accredited Forensic Science Graduate Program, accredited DNA laboratories as well as working forensic chemistry, forensic microscopy and digital forensic laboratories. Students receive hands-on training prior to working in the crime labs.
Dr. Terry W. Fenger, director of Marshall’s Forensic Science Center, said the internship program is a requirement of FEPAC, the agency that accredits Marshall’s graduate forensic science program. “The internship program provides students with experience that helps them to find jobs after graduation,” he said. “It also enables the academic program to build a network of contacts in our nation’s crime labs and law enforcement agencies who notify us about job openings.”
Marshall’s forensic science graduate students are assigned internships in state and local forensic crime labs to perform validations, conduct research and perform comparison studies on methodologies in various forensic disciplines.
Internships were completed at the following forensic laboratories, law enforcement agencies and prosecutor’s office: New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s Forensic Biology Laboratory, New York, N.Y.; Rhode Island Department of Health Forensic Biology Laboratory, Providence, R.I.; Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Forensic Laboratory, Las Vegas, Nev.; Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Biology Unit, West Palm Beach, Fla.; Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center’s Criminalistics Division, Wichita, Kan.; Michigan State Police Marquette Forensic Laboratory, Marquette, Mich.; Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Forensic Toxicology Section, Ventura, Calif.; South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Trace Evidence Department, Columbia, S.C.; Huntington Police Department, Cabell County Prosecutor’s Office and the Huntington Fire Department, Huntington, W.Va.; and Marshall University Forensic Science Center’s Forensic Chemistry Laboratory as well as its Marshall Information Security and Digital Evidence Laboratory.
Poster reviewers include individuals from various crime labs in the local area.
The media is welcome to cover the event. Reporters should call Mary Thomasson at the Marshall University Forensic Science Center at 304-691-8961 to set up interviews, preferably earlier in the morning.