Spring has officially arrived as of Sunday, the 20th. At home, the arrival of spring starts the process of moving plants back outside, taking the covers off of the patio furniture, packing up the winter sweaters, going through the closets, and getting the windows washed. It’s a complete distraction from work and I love it.
We had several of our partners reach out to us with announcements and requests for ASCLD member assistance. If you ever want more information on something I post here, find me and I can put you in contact with the person/group submitting the information.
Just a note about an announcement I made on the February 7th CLM about the Annual Questioning Forensics Conference, “Foundations of DNA Defense: Unpacking the 2021 NIST Report” scheduled for March 30/April 1. If you haven’t registered yet, no need to do so. They have decided to close it down to only the defense community. Anyone from a lab should have received an email that your registration has been removed.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)/National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Expert Working Group on Human Factors in Forensic DNA Interpretation has developed a survey to be completed by forensic DNA technical leaders (or equivalent). The DNA Technical Leaders survey has been designed to assess consistency and variability between forensic DNA laboratories with respect to laboratory management, tasks performed, DNA data interpretation, cognitive bias, internal and external training and research, testimony and reporting practices, quality assurance and quality control measures, and stakeholder engagement opportunities. It is estimated to take about 45 minutes to complete. There is more information attached below in their letter. More information can be found here: https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/dna-technical-leader-survey and click here to be taken directly to the survey: https://rtihfdna.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6hydFO5jonForlA.
Please mark your calendar for March 23, 2022 at 10:00 AM EST. ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is an international standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services, including many of our Forensic Science disciplines. E30, the Forensic Science Committee, began publishing “American National Standards” effective August 2021. This new process allows interested stakeholders the opportunity to provide comments on draft standards. They have a new webinar that I would like to share with you. During the webinar, presenters will provide information on how to actively participate in the consensus-based standards development process, as an E30 committee member, E30 technical contact, and/or as a public commentor. Learn about the American National Standards process and how it differs from E30’s previous process. I am on this committee and we always appreciate new members and input from our community and stakeholders as these standards are developed, revised, and updated. Register here: https://event.on24.com/wcc/r/3643945/68B1F7A7CB699FD853E24ED3D86B259D
Please see the attached flyer below from our partner the Society of Forensic Toxicology (SOFT), about a new grant project they are working on. They received funding through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to create a Regional Toxicology Liaison (RTL) Demonstration Project for three of the ten NHTSA regions. The project creates a cooperative agreement to assist with training, collaboration, and the standardization of testing across state labs and the reporting of data to better understand the scope of the drug-impaired driving problem. The flyer provides introductions to the liaisons and contact information.
We are accepting videos, newspaper clippings, photos, etc. for compilation into videos to kick off our mornings at the symposium. Did you take pictures for National Forensic Science Week? There is a link to the dropbox below or you can contact me at laura.sudkamp@ky.gov. and we will get your items submitted.
I hope everyone has a great week!
Laura
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Weekly News and Resources
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Join us for the ASCLD Symposium 2022
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We Need Crime Lab Videos!!!
We are now collecting videos from YOU to be compiled into the opening videos at the symposium highlighting the successes, news, and GOOD things related to Crime Labs.
You can add video at this link:
If you have questions or can’t use the dropbox for your submission, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Laura Sudkamp ( Laura.Sudkamp@ky.gov ). We want you to be included!
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You asked, we listened! ASCLD has incorporated a free night into the Symposium agenda to give you time for relaxation and informal dinners. Enjoy some downtime on Tuesday from 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM before the President's and Awards Reception.
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ASCLD 2022 Symposium Social Media
Please use #ASCLD2022 or #ASCLDSYMPOSIUM
on your social media- let your friends and colleagues know you are heading to Reno!!!
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ASCLD Feature: Meet a BOD Candidate!
We have several candidates for our ASCLD BOD- we would like to introduce our membership to them as we get closer to ASCLD 2022. This week we are featuring Mike Cariola from Bode Technology. Click here for Mike ASCLD BOD questionnaire.
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The Next Lightning Talk is Here!
The ASCLD Forensic Research Committee is proud to announce the next episode of a virtual “Lightning Talks” series to highlight new and emerging research in all areas of forensic science. Each episode will feature three short talks given by practitioners, researchers, and/or students. The next episode will be held on Thursday March 24th at 1:00 EST and will focus on Interlaboratory and Black Box Studies. It will feature talks by Jose Almirall from Florida International University on the importance of interlaboratory studies, Heidi Eldridge from the Research Triangle Institute on latent fingerprinting black box studies, and Philip Dunn from LGC Group on isotope ratio proficiency testing. The live event is limited to 100 people. To register, visit https://www.ascld.org/forensic-research-committee/.
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Thank you to our 2022 Gold Sponsors:
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Please send all CLM submissions to our new electronic form!
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Please continue to tag your photos on social media with the hashtag #ASCLDfun
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Opt Out.
ASCLD sells your email information to vendors for marketing and promotional material purposes. You may ‘opt-out’ of receiving vendor information not directly related to ASCLD by emailing executivedirector@ascld.org. If you do not opt out then your acceptance of this Agreement will constitute your affirmative consent to receiving marketing and promotional material from ASCLD.
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Crime Lab Minute Sponsors
For More Information, Click the LOGO below:
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Please read the following white papers:
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There are many standards open for comment on the ASB website. Be sure to check them out and provide your valuable input!
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Safety Topics for your Lab
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Health and Safety in the Laboratory series by Jane Northup PhD, RI State Crime Laboratory
Click on links below for articles
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ANAB Trainings
With the ability to reach wider audiences, we are expanding offerings of current courses in Spanish.
The following courses will be available live online in Spanish:
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Forensic Technical Assessor
- Forensic ISO/IEC 17025 Internal Auditor
- Risk-based Thinking for Forensic Service Providers
We are also excited to introduce our courses: Laboratories and Inspection:
Basic Statistics for Laboratories and Inspection Bodies. This course will introduce basic statistical techniques for collecting, organizing, analyzing, interpreting, and presenting data. Participants will strengthen their knowledge base of statistical techniques and their application to ISO/IEC 17020 and ISO/IEC 17025, and build confidence in the validity and reliability of their results. More..
Verification and Validation for Laboratories and Inspection Bodies. This course provides an introduction to the validation and verification of analytical methods and the common elements of a validation or verification plan. In addition, a general approach to performing a validation or verification will be reviewed along with ISO/IEC 17025 requirements for validation and verification of methods. More…
Webinars:
We continue our monthly Webinars and stay tuned for information about upcoming Feature Sessions.
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The National Association of Forensic Laboratory Counsel (NAFLC)
will hold its 2022 Annual Training and Meeting at the Southwestern Institute for Forensic Sciences (SWIFS) in Dallas, TX from May 18 through 20, 2022. Non-members are encouraged to attend, but you MUST be an attorney advising a public forensic laboratory that primarily provides services to government or law enforcement agencies to be admitted to this training. Additional information, including the agenda, registration form, and hotel reservation link, may be found on NAFLC's website: https://www.naflc.org/meeting-and-events.
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Donations to ASCLD can now be made online! This is a great way to honor the memory of a forensic colleague, to commemorate a life event for that person who has everything, or to otherwise assist in supporting the tireless efforts of the ASCLD organization in the pursuit of excellence in forensic science management. The donation page can be accessed by clicking HERE or by visiting the ASCLD website and clicking on "Donate to ASCLD" under the "Member Site" tab (this donation page is accessible even to non-members). Please consider donating and do share this information with anyone you think might be interested.
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The American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors
65 Glen Road, Suite 123
Garner, NC 27529
Phone: 919.773.2044
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