Dear ASCLD Colleagues,
 
Welcome home. It was a great week in Boston at the 48th Annual ASCLD Symposium. A huge thank-you to those who attended and especially to those who shared their expertise through our Leadership Academy, workshops and presentations. We continue to be our own best resource. For those who missed, we had a great time, so we want to see you in Reno for 2022. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the last minute threat of Hurricane Henri, we had a little over 400 registered attendees from 42 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and 16 countries. We welcomed keynote speakers Paula Davis from the Stress and Resilience Institute, Deborah Lee James who served as the 23rd Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, professional leadership expert speaker, Cameron Cozzens from Arbinger Institute and closed out the symposium with a presentation from executive leadership coach, Evan Burke. Our theme for this year's meeting was Together Toward Tomorrow. Our goal was to give you information on laboratory successes and examples of resiliency from our peers. We provided information on resources available to assist us and highlighted that we are one team supporting each other as we push forward into the future of forensics. We tried a new stage and presentation formats with the hopes of bringing enthusiasm and energy into the meeting. The closing awards luncheon was transformed into a glitz and glam award dinner and President’s Reception and that seemed well received. We were so excited to be able to gather in person and it showed!

I cannot thank outgoing President Erin Forry, Past President Brooke Arnone, Treasurer Rita Dyas, and Secretary Linda Jackson enough for their outstanding service. They have definitely moved ASCLD forward with great leadership and programs. As your new president, I am very excited, humbled and honored to serve you as your representative. This promises to be a challenging year filled with new opportunity to work together in our mission to aspire to excellence through leadership in forensic science management.

Laura
 
Laura Sundkamp
ASCLD President