Department News

As part of President Gee’s initiative to learn more about our Mountaineers’ educational experiences, he surprised FIS Graduate Seminar students with a visit to their class during Valentine’s day.

Sara Kuberski recently presented her research at the 17th annual Undergraduate Research Day at the Capitol (URDC) in Charleston, WV. The event highlights the accomplishments of undergraduate researchers throughout the state of West Virginia and demonstrates the importance of research for the future of the state.

Two students in the Reed College of Media developed a new video that highlights the forensic and investigative science program. This video is the culmination of a term-long project in Professor MaryKay McFarland’s course, Advanced Video Storytelling. Jacob Shockley and Sijie Yuan (Andy) interviewed faculty and students, visited classes and laboratories, and went to our simulated late night crime scene investigations. Some 20 hours of video recordings were captured and condensed to this dynamic presentation. 

Thirty-four students from the WVU FIS program attended this event. Students had the opportunity to attend workshops and lectures to further their knowledge in the field of forensic science. Attendance at the conference also provided students with the opportunity to network with professionals in the field, a skill that is very important.  

This semester, there were two night crime scenes: one for Dr. Keith Morris’ bloodstain class and the other for Professor Robert O’Brien’s crime scene I class. On Thursday, April 13th, Professor O’Brien’s crime scene I class was called to the scene of an assault at 4 am. Sophomore Jennifer Ho comments on the experience saying, “being called out to the scene at 4 am allows us to not only get the academic portion of the material but the practical experience as well.”

“Who you are, where you’ve been, what you eat, what drugs you take — it all shows up in your hair,” says Glen P. Jackson, Ph.D. “Depending on the question being asked, the chemical analysis of human hair can provide amazing insights into the life and lifestyle of a person.”

The two-day event consisted of tours of departmental facilities on the downtown and Evansdale campuses as well as opportunities to meet with Forensic & Investigative Science faculty and graduate students. Dr. Liu’s fellowship is associated with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and thus he visited with Associate Professor of Law Valena Beety, Director of the WVU Innocence Project.

Forensic and Investigative Science/Chemistry professor exploring use of putty to collect gun residue samples

Ms. Kelli Sullivan, a junior in the FIS program, was chosen by the faculty as having the best forensic photography presentation in Professor Ken Bauer’s forensic photography course.