URI forensics spring series topics
KINGSTON, R.I. – January 29, 2007 – The University of Rhode Island’s Forensic Science Seminar features 12 lectures this spring semester, including presentations on Sherlock Holmes, bioterrorism and opposition to liquefied natural gas terminals in the post-Sept. 11 era.
All seminars are free and open to the public and held Fridays from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. in Pastore Hall, Room 124 on the Kingston Campus. Pastore Hall is located at 51 Lower College Road. Because of spring break, there will be no seminar on March 23.
East Greenwich Police Department Patrolman Donald Mong will lead off the series Friday, Feb. 2 with a discussion of motor vehicle collisions.
Mong’s talk, entitled “Accident Reconstruction,” will chronicle how officers reconstruct serious or fatal motor vehicle crashes.
He has been with the East Greenwich Police Department for 19 years, serving as a traffic officer. He has investigated more than 1,500 motor vehicle collisions and has been an instructor for the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy for 10 years. He has been qualified as a Traffic Accident Reconstruction Expert in Superior Court.
The remaining schedule of topics and their speakers are as follows:
Feb. 9, Max Houck, West Virginia University and retired FBI agent, “Trace Evidence Analysis.”
Feb. 16, Paul Roberti, Rhode Island assistant attorney general, “Opposition to Liquefied Natural Gas Terminals Post-9/11.”
Feb. 23, Andy Rosenzweig, New York Police Department, “Cold Case Investigations.”
Mar. 2, James F. Wesley, New York Monroe County Public Safety Lab, “The New Youth Drug Culture 2007.”
Mar. 9, David Fisher, New York medical examiner, “DNA in the City that Doesn’t Sleep: Behind the Scenes at the NYC Office of Chief Medical Examiner’s Department of Forensic Biology.”
Mar. 16, Michael Hynes, Raytheon Co., “Nuclear Forensics.”
Mar. 30, Kelly Mount, FBI explosives unit, “FBI Explosive Investigations.”
Apr. 6, Mahmoud ElSohly, University of Mississippi, “Marijuana in Forensics.”
Apr. 13, E.J. Wagner, writer/ criminal historian, “Superstition, Science, and Sherlock Holmes: The Development of Forensic Science During the Gaslight Era.”
Apr. 20, Lt. Guy Casarella, Rhode Island National Guard, “Chemical/ Bioterrorism.”
Apr. 27, Peter M. Vallone, National Institute of Standards and Technology, “Advances in the Field of Forensic DNA Typing.”