Greetings from Savannah, Georgia! Your ASCLD Board of Directors have put in a lot of work and time with our first in-person meeting since the Symposium in August. We have trudged through a hefty agenda but made great progress in reviewing the budget, Bylaws, Administrative Manual, Strategic plans, committee reports, etc. We still have another 4 hours to go tomorrow and any hope of ending early is gone! It has actually been very interesting as we work our way through some of the manuals and look back at how the bylaws and policies were developed over time. It has been a stroll down memory lane for me.
I only have two mentions for this week. One is an interesting offering from the Center for Integrity in Forensic Sciences (CIFS) and PINNACLE. “Advancements in technology and testing have created an explosion of new resources for investigators, prosecutors, and defense counsel. But, misapplication and misunderstanding of those advancements can lead to devastating outcomes in the criminal justice system. That, along with new scrutiny of sciences that have been used in courtrooms for many years have raised questions that cannot be ignored. Designed with legal professionals in mind, the Forensic Justice Institute is a premier virtual event that puts the scientific evidence used in court under the microscope.” This is scheduled for Thursday and Friday of this week. Information and registration can be found here: https://marketplace.wisbar.org/store/products/cle-seminars/thursday%2c-january-20%2c-2022/c-25/c-78/p-25655#25655

The second topic to highlight is a message we received from Tom Gluodenis about the Current Trends in Seized Drug Analysis. “Now in 2022, we celebrate our 5th year which launches in just two short weeks: January 24th – 28th with Current Trends in Seized Drug Analysis. I am honored to have as Program Chairs Dr. Irene Breum-Müller of the University of Copenhagen and Chair of the ENFSI Drug Working Group along with Dr. Ed Sisco from the National Institute of Standards & Technology in the USA. This year’s inaugural event focusing on seized drug analysis will have days dedicated to:
• Advances in NPS Analysis
• Accreditation and Validation
• Sampling and Safe Handling
• Chemometrics & Profiling, and
• On-site Analysis
and will feature speakers from the U.S., Denmark, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Serbia. As always, registration is free and CE credits are available through the ABC. This event is 100% virtual so there is no need to travel. If the time in inconvenient, registrants will have the opportunity to view all the presentations on-demand even if they miss the live event. The link is here: https://forensiceducation.cfsre.org/product?catalog=2022_Current_Trends_in_Seized_Drug_Analysis_Symposium

I hope you have a great week! I look forward to sharing some of our work products from this Board meeting in the near future.

Laura