Department Successes of 2024

Dr. Glen P. Jackson recently received a new NIJ-funded grant:

NIJ-Funded Grant

Dr. Glen P. Jackson appeared on E-News:

Dr. Tatiana Trejos was recognized with a very prestigious award from OSAC:

Dr. Tatiana Trejos appeared in the WVU Magazine

Tiffany Edwards, MSFS received the Eberly College Outstanding Teaching Award for the 2023/2024 academic year.

Forensic Biology Research

Above - Left to Right: Leah Gingrich and John Schmitt. Won runner up in Biological & Biochemical Sciences Poster Presentations at the Fall 2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Their project is "Developing a rapid DNA test for cases of poisoning with Amanita mushrooms." Mentor: Dr. Arati Iyengar

Above: C. Dolton. Won poster presentations in Physical Sciences, Engineering, & Technology at Spring 2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Her project is “Evaluating evidence integrity in the analysis of tape evidence when using latent print development and µXRF analysis”. Mentor: Dr. Tatiana Trejos

Above: C. Dolton. Won runner-up of poster presentations in Physical Sciences, Engineering, & Technology at Spring 2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Her project is “Characterization of Ammunition via LC-MS/MS Analysis of Smokeless Powders, Spent Cartridges, and Hand Residues”. Mentor: Dr. Tatiana Trejos

NEAFS:

Oct 2024. Leah Thomas, BS, Kourtney Dalzell, MS, Roger Jefferys, MS, Luis Arroyo, PhD, and Tatiana Trejos, PhD. Northeastern Association of Forensic Science (NEAFS) Annual Meeting. Enhancements in mobile technology and strategies to triage firearm-related evidence at the scene for more efficient investigations. Atlantic City, NJ (Oral presentation)

Oct 2024. Christopher George, Kourtney Dalzell, Leah Thomas, Luis Arroyo, and Tatiana Trejos. Northeastern Association of Forensic Science (NEAFS) Annual Meeting. A Pilot Study for the Adoption of GSR Screening Techniques into Forensic Laboratories. Atlantic City NJ (Oral presentation)

Oct 2024. Kourtney Dalzell, M.S., Tomas Ledergerber, B.S., Tatiana Trejos, PhD., and Luis Arroyo. Northeastern Association of Forensic Science (NEAFS) Annual Meeting. Evaluation of GSR preservation via confirmatory analysis workflows to facilitate the adoption of OGSR analysis. Atlantic City, NJ (Poster)

Argentina

Sept 2024. Tatiana Trejos, Luis Arroyo.  XIII LIBS 2024 International Meeting & II Latin American Meeting on Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy. Expanding the Impact of LIBS Technology to Streamline Forensic Investigations. PLENARY SPEAKER. Iguazú, Argentina.

Sept 2024. Tatiana Trejos, Anna Michel, Nerea Bordel, Susana Boeykens. XIII LIBS 2024 International Meeting & II Latin American Meeting on Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy. Round Table Discussion: Women in LIBS. Shaping the Future: Addressing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities in International Research. Iguazú, Argentina (invited speaker)

Sept 2024. Luis Arroyo, Tatiana Trejos, Kourtney Dalzell, Leah Thomas, Jhanis Gonzalez. Moving LIBS Technology to the Forefront: Advancements for the Detection of Firearm Discharge Residue at Crime Scenes. XIII LIBS 2024 International Meeting & II Latin American Meeting on Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy. Iguazú, Argentina (invited speaker)

Nov 2024. Dr. Arroyo in South Korea for a round table discussion on method validation.

Technical visit Chile 

Sept 2024. Tatiana Trejos and Luis Arroyo. Implementación de un Sistema de Gestión de Calidad en el Area de Residuos de Disparo Bajo la Norma ISO-IEC 17025. Laboratorio Criminalística de la Policía de Investigaciones de Chile (PDI), Santiago, Chile. (invited technical visit) 

Costa Rica:

August 5-9 2024: Costa Rican Prosecutors Office (Ministerio Publico) and Organism of Judicial Investigation (OIJ)

SciX

 

Oct 2023. Thomas Ledergerber, B.S., Kourtney Dalzell, M.S., Matthew Staymates, M.S., Luis Arroyo, PhD, Tatiana Trejos, PhD. SciX Scientific Conference. Unmasking Gunshot Residue Deposition Transference Mechanisms using Laser Sheet Scattering, High-speed Videography, Atmospheric Particle Analysis, and Spectrometric Analytical Techniques. Oral Presentation. Raleigh, NC. (oral presentation)

NIJ National Research Conference

Sept 2024. Tatiana Trejos and Jay Petterson 2024 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) National Research Conference. Advancing Justice through Science. How Research Improves Public Crime Lab Efficiency and Accuracy: NIJ-Sponsored Outcomes. Pittsburgh, PA (invited speaker)

Sept 2024. Kourtney Dalzell, Thomas Ledergerber, Addio Fiordigili, Luis Arroyo, Tatiana Trejos. 2024 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) National Research Conference. Advancing Justice through Science. A feasibility study of electrochemical sensors, chromatographic methods, and mass spectrometry technology for laboratory adoption of organic gunshot residue analysis. Pittsburgh, PA (poster)

Sept 2024. Thomas Ledergerber, Kourtney Dalzell, Luis Arroyo, Tatiana Trejos. 2024 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) National Research Conference. Advancing Justice through Science. An Investigation into Best Practices for the Storage and Dual Analysis of IGSR and OGSR. Pittsburgh, PA (poster)

Sept 2024. Hannah McMillen, M.S. and Glen Jackson, PhD. 2024 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) National Research Conference. Advancing Justice through Science. Application of the expert algorithm for substance identification (EASI) to predict ASTM E1618-19 ignitable liquid classes from gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) data of ignitable liquid resides. Pittsburgh, PA (poster).

Midwestern Association of Forensic Science

Sept 2024. Zachary Andrews, Troy Ernst, Ruthmara Corzo, Cedric Neumann, Tatiana Trejos. Recommendations for the Forensic Analysis of Contemporary Portable Electronic Device (PED) Glass Samples. Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists (MAFS) 52nd Annual Meeting, Detroit, MI (oral presentation) 

Sept 2024. Zachary Andrews, Troy Ernst, Tatiana Trejos. Developing consensus-based methods for the examination and interpretation of contemporary vehicle, architectural, and portable electronic device glasses by micro-X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists (MAFS) 52nd Annual Meeting, Detroit, MI (workshop)

West Virginia State Police Visit:

July 2024. Thomas Ledergerber, Luis Arroyo, Tatiana Trejos. West Virginia State Police Laboratory Technical Visit, Building Foundations for a more comprehensive interpretation of IGSR and OGSR evidence. Charleston, WV

Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office Technical Visit

Aug 2024, Kourtney Dalzell, Leah Thomas, Christopher George, Luis Arroyo, Tatiana Trejos. ACOME Technical Visit. Building foundations for a more comprehensive interpretation of IGSR and OGSR evidence. Pittsburgh, PA. Collaboration with Christopher George, Paul Speaker, Pam Woods, Daniel Woods and Jackie Caterino. 

Forensic Examiner Research

Above - Left to Right: H. Sullivan, R. Daily, K. Villeda, A. Mauro. Spring 2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Their project is “West Virginia University Unsolved Case Project.” Mentor: Tiffany Edwards, MS

Above - Left to Right: H. Fisher, K. Campbell, E. Seibert.  Spring 2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Their project is “Assessing Reflectivity between substrates and distances using the FARO M70 and Trimble X9 scanners.” Mentor: Tiffany Edwards, MS

The Forensic and Investigative Science Department has been involved in Cold Case Research.