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2009 Annual Meeting —
Dr.
Jason
Byrd
NAFEA President, is investigating several bids for conference centers
in Miami, FL to host the 7th Annual NAFEA Meeting in July 2009.
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2008 Annual Meeting
Highlights —
NAFEA 2008 – Atlantic City,
New Jersey, Cesar's Hotel. — Click here to see some
photos
The 6th Annual NAFEA meeting was held June 8-10 at Caesar’s Atlantic
City Hotel and Casino, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On Sunday evening,
a welcoming reception was held at the Trinity Irish Pub and Carvery in
The Pier. A sampling of Irish dishes was available, along with the
normal amenities associated with pubs. This was a great start to the
meeting, as everyone was able to catch up with old friends and meet the
new people in our ever-growing organization. The meeting officially
began the following morning with registration and a welcoming address
from the meeting host and NAFEA secretary, Ms. Diana Johnson. The
Keynote Speaker, renowned forensic scientist Dr. Richard Safferstein,
gave a presentation entitled “Forensic Science – A Look Back at Thirty
Years of Progress”. In this presentation, Dr. Safferstein spoke on what
he felt are the top 10 advancements in forensic science during the past
30 years of his career. The remainder of the day was filled with oral
presentations on current research in forensic entomology. That evening,
Dr. Safferstein invited us to his beach house for dinner. While there,
we were able to walk along the beach and collect shells. We also had a
great time relaxing and conversing with Dr. Safferstein and the other
NAFEA members. Day two of the meeting began with a Q&A session for
the submitted poster presentations and continued with oral
presentations. When all presentations were finished, NAFEA President
Dr. Jeff Wells gave a closing address and conducted the business
meeting. After lunch was the workshop, the final portion of the
meeting. Death Investigator John H. “Jack” Ingle, V.S.M., led a
discussion workshop on the involvement of forensic scientists in
criminal investigations. During this, we learned how to become involved
as a forensic consultant to local law enforcement and medical
examiner/coroner offices and various ways to facilitate these
relationships. That evening, part of the group toured the “Bodies: The
Exhibition” exhibit at the Taj Majal Casino before joining the rest of
NAFEA for dinner at Opa Bar and Grille. Most of the group was still
around for dinner, and a great time was had by everyone as we spent the
evening enjoying each other’s company. The following day, the Texas
A&M/ Clemson group had the opportunity to tour the New Jersey
Regional Computer Forensic Laboratory (NJRCFL), New Jersey State Police
Crime Lab, and the New Jersey State Police Museum.
As the associate member representative, I would like to extend a thanks
and congratulations to all the students who attended this year’s
meeting; we made up 43% of the meeting attendance and gave 63% of the
meeting presentations. The future of NAFEA is in great hands!
Congratulations and thanks to Ms. Diana Johnson for organizing and
hosting a great meeting!
Jonathan Cammack
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.
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Other Meeting
Announcments
The 19th International Symposium on
the Forensic
Sciences”. 6-9 October, 2008. Melbourne, Australia - http://www.anzfss2008.org.au
Announcement from:
Dr. Melanie Archer
The Victorian Institute of
Forensic Medicine
57-83 Kavanagh St
Southbank, VIC 3006
Australia
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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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