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2009 Annual Meeting
Highlights —
NAFEA 2009 – Miami Beach, Florida, OceanPoint Resort — Click here to see some
photos
The 7th Annual NAFEA Meeting was held in Miami, Florida at the Ocean
Point Resort from July 16th-17th. The meeting began Thursday
morning with a welcome address from Dr. Jason Byrd, acting as both
NAFEA president and conference host. The Keynote Speaker, Dr.
José Almirall then gave his talk entitled “Can Forensic
Chemistry Assist Forensic Entomology?” which gave invaluable insight
into how various chemical techniques (such as ion mobility and laser
induced breakdown spectroscopy) can be used in the field analysis of
volatiles and metals. This was followed by a strong line-up of
scientific talks that ranged in topics from assessing the landing
behavior of flies to evaluating the validity of using pigs as a human
model for entomological research purposes.
After the scientific portion of the day concluded, refreshments were
served in the NAFEA Board Members after hours lounge in preparation for
the night festivities. The night portion of the conference began
with the “Back to the 80’s” Beach Party, complete with karaoke, which
was held on the pool deck of the Ocean Point Resort. Many meeting
attendees were able to attend the beach party in full out 80’s gear
(see attached pictures) and many NAFEA members were able to provide the
entertainment for the night, which opened with Dr. Mollie McIntosh’s
impressive version of “Baby Got Back”. The rest of the song list
included the likes of Madonna, Journey, Guns and Roses, Bon Jovi and a
Canadian rendition of “If I Had a Million Dollars”. Fun was
definitely had by all involved.
The second day consisted of another stellar line-up of scientific
presentations, the poster session, and a talk given by Keynote Speaker
Dr. Bruce Hyma, Chief Medical Examiner and Director of the Miami-Dade
Medical Examiner Department, which addressed the various experiences he
has had during his career. The day concluded with the NAFEA
Business Meeting followed by some much needed relaxing time at the
beach. That evening, some members enjoyed Mexican food and
entertainment followed by salsa dancing, while other members retired to
the Board Member lounge for after dinner drinks. Regardless of
what the day and evenings included, a great time was had by all
socializing, networking, and spending time with fellow NAFEA members
(new and old).
As your newly elected associate member representative, I would like
extend a thank-you to Dr. Jason Byrd and other contributing members to
hosting another momentous meeting. I am confident that next years
meeting, which is to be held in Windsor, Ontario, will follow suit to
the series of great meetings that have been held over the years.
Jennifer Rosati
Associate Member Representative
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Member News
Dr. Jeff Wells,
NAFEA President, has been appointed Chair of the Department of Biology
at West Virginia University! Congrats, Jeff!
Dr. Mark Benecke,
NAFEA International Member Representative, will soon be travelling to
India. He will "try to knot even more international ties in the
name of FE" during his stay. Also, he
has offered to collect blow/flesh flies. If you need flies from
India, feel free to let him know ( forensic@benecke.com
).
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Member
Announcments
Online Forensic
Entomology Course at Michigan State University - contact Dr.
Rich Merritt (merrittr@mail.msu.edu)
or
Ryan
Kimbirauskas (kimbira1@msu.edu)
by Dr. Rich Merritt and Ph.D. Student Ryan Kimbirauskas both members of
the ABFE (American Board of Forensic Entomology)
Forensic Entomology
Educational Site - Forensic
Flies
and
Other
Arthropods of Forensic Importance, Forensic Entomology Evidence
Recovery Website
by Michelle Phillips
Forensic Entomology at the
XXIIIrd International Congress of Entomology - by Ian Dadour,
Center for Forensic Science, University of Western Australia
The international meeting was held at the International Congress Centre
in Durban South Africa from 5th July to 12th July 2008. This was
the first time that the conference was held in Africa. The theme of the
conference was "Celebrating Entomology: Contributions to Modern
Science" and hosted by the Entomological Society of Southern
Africa. The opening ceremony was a gala event with many different
South African musical and dancing themes. It was further enhanced
with a speech by the South African Minister for Science Minister
Mosibudi Mangena who dedicated the opening section of his talk to
Forensic Entomology and its social impact. Special mention was made of
Dr Mervyn Mansell and his contribution to solving the worst serial
crime in South Africa comprising 69 victims and the conviction of Moses
Sithole.
There were 2 main sessions dedicated to forensic entomology and a
smaller spill-over session. An opening address was presented by
Rob Hall (USA) on ethical issues when presenting entomological evidence
in court. A series of papers were presented on various topics
including blow fly oviposition, the significance of weather data, the
DNA identification of blow flies, modelling insect development, some
ecology based papers on decomposition in cars, a DVD on how to sample
and some interesting case studies.
A
list of presentations and posters related to forensic entomology can be
downloaded here.
Dr. Mark Beneke
recently published a new paper. It can be found at: http://wiki.benecke.com/index.php?title=2008_Entomologie_heute:_What_is_the_Edge_of_a_Forest%3F
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Other
Announcments
Forensic Entomology Workshop at the Penn
State University
The 2010 Forensic
Entomology Workshop will be held at the Penn State University on May
18-21, 2010. The Forensic Entomology Workshop is designed for forensic
investigators working for law-enforcement agencies, including state
police, municipal police, forensic pathologists, and coroners or those
interested in applying the techniques of forensic entomological
investigation to their career field. The course has been approved by
the State Board of Coroners. Please note: No prior knowledge of
forensic entomology is required. For more information on the course and
registration please link to: http://agsci.psu.edu/forensic
You may contact the Office
of Conference and Short Course, Penn State College of Agricultural
Sciences at 814.865.8301 or by emailing csco@psu.edu
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Recent Forensic
Entomology Paper Announcments
Wells, J.D., J.R.
Stevens, in press (scheduled for volume 53. 2008,
available
online).
Applications of DNA-based methods in forensic entomology. Annual Review
of Entomology.
A
one-time, free download
(for personal use only) is available at:
http://arjournals.annualreviews.org/eprint/IFbkEVCIVVxvUM5rMdiK/
full/10.1146/annurev.ento.52.110405.091423
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