Dear ASCLD Colleagues and Friends,
 
This week I am in Detroit, Michigan watching hockey, but we have the added joy of my parents joining us. They flew in from Savannah, GA and it is always fun to see them. Of course, as I drink my coffee and wait to go in, I am also thinking about all the things I have lined up for next week at work! This time of year is always busy for me- not only is it grant writing season, but we have “end of the fiscal year” wrap up tasks and annual performance evaluations for our folks in Wisconsin. My mind does often drift to how the folks that work with me are coping with all the demands they face every day.
 
This month is Mental Health Awareness Month (https://www.mhanational.org/mental-health-month). Mental health is something that everyone should be cognizant of. It is critical that our leaders in the forensic community have an awareness of the health of our organizations and staff. As your organization develops policy or resources feel free to share with our Member Resource Committee. They have a great managers toolkit site just full of information for our ASCLD leaders. https://www.ascld.org/ascld-managers-toolkit/
 
Speaking of sharing, do you have something to share from your laboratory? Some great news like a new building, becoming an OSAC implementor, or adopting a new technology? Please consider sharing your good news with us- we just love hearing from our ASCLD friends. You can send your submissions to the CLM utilizing our electronic form: https://www.ascld.org/the-crime-lab-minute/
 
Finally, we had a great ASCLD Board of Directors meeting on May 20th. There were a lot of topics to discuss including getting our committees all up and running and a reminder of the great resources we provide on the ASCLD website under our membership areas File Repository. Did you know all the monthly committee reports are posted there and you can read what exactly committees are working on: https://www.ascld.org/ascld-file-repository/#elf_l1_Lw
 
 
I hope everyone has an amazing week and hopefully you get some things taken care of on your list. Until next time, friends!
 
 
Be well,
 
 
Jen
 
Jennifer D. Naugle
ASCLD President