by Saren Johnston

Director Tom Barton welcomed more than 30 participants to the May 31 meeting of the Midwest Forensics Resource Center.Meeting attendees represented eight Midwestern state crime labs; three universities; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the National Institute of Justice; the Department of Energy; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

The group had assembled to discuss progress on the MFRC, a facility that will serve the needs of regional crime labs and expand the capabilities of forensic science. The MFRC will draw on the expertise of faculty and staff members at Iowa State University, the Institute for Physical Research and Technology, Ames Laboratory and other professionals throughout the region. The center will serve as a central point for regional training, education and research in forensic science. Meeting participants expect that the MFRC will ease local and state forensic casework loads and advance the development of new techniques in forensic science.

"Your attendance at the first meeting a year ago to discuss the proposed forensics center may have been driven by a good deal of curiosity," said Barton to the meeting participants. "But to see you come back this year is much more meaningful."

David Hoffman, Ames Laboratory division director of Science and Technology, told the audience of forensic specialists, "We are committed to seeing that this forensics center gets off the ground and to helping you people do your jobs."

Organizers of the MFRC meeting were its co-principal investigators: David Baldwin, director of Ames Lab’s Environmental and Protection Sciences Program, and Todd Zdorkowski, a technology commercialization specialist for the IPRT Center for Advanced Technology Development and Ames Laboratory.

The states to be served by the new forensics center include Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. The MFRC will focus on four major goals:

• Develop customized training for regional partners.

• Conduct short-term, case-related forensics research projects.

• Develop a forensics curriculum for ISU and associated universities.

• Conduct long-term research into new and improved forensics techniques.

Baldwin said the forensics center will be located at ISU, in particular at Ames Laboratory, and will provide the scientific expertise, tools and techniques needed to develop more efficient and reliable methods of analyzing crime-scene evidence. One of those methods is being advanced by Baldwin and Ames Lab senior chemist Sam Houk. It involves the use of laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy to identify metals, ceramics and other materials. By using a laser to remove a small amount of material from the surface of a piece of evidence, criminalists will be able to preserve a larger portion of the evidence than they can with conventional methods of analysis. Baldwin and Houk have achieved good results using LA-ICP-MS to analyze and identify plain carbon steels and have been transferring their findings to the FBI.

In another effort, Gary Osweiler and Walter Hyde, Ames Lab associates from the ISU College of Veterinary Medicine, have worked with the Department of Energy to create a database for the FBI that will allow quick responses to the use of biological agents on livestock. The database will list facilities and experts throughout the United States who could provide immediate assistance in the event of bioterrorism attacks.

To further ease problems encountered in the crime laboratory, a glove box donated by Ames Lab has been adapted by associate chemist Robert Lipert to serve as an improved fingerprint development chamber. Allowing criminalists to control the temperature, humidity and other factors inside the box, the chamber provides greater control in detecting and receiving fingerprints from crime-scene evidence.

During the past year, Baldwin said organizers of the MFRC have developed a vision for what the center can be; formed advisory groups that guide the center’s efforts; visited all the regional crime lab facilities; assembled needs and idea statements; piloted projects in education, casework and short-term research; and pursued funding.

"We’re coming to the end of the regional development and ISU seed funding," said Baldwin. "We’re trying to attract long-term support from the National Institute of Justice and are also pursuing other funding sources, both federal and private."

Zdorkowski said the participants left the meeting committed to establishing the MFRC. "New crime laboratory directors joined the core group of founders, and new criminalists joined the MFRC’s advisory groups," he said. "One of the MFRC’s founding members volunteered to represent the MFRC before the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors. And others volunteered to contact members of their congressional delegations."