Just Science

Latest Episodes:

Just Drug Courts_Drugs_043 Apr 30, 2018

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In episode two of the Drugs Season, Just Science interviews Preeti Menon, the Senior Associate Director at the Justice Programs Office, a center in the School of Public Affairs at America University. One of Ms. Menon's many roles include being the Principal Investigator and project director for the National Drug Court Resource Center, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the Principal Investigator for the Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Training and Technical Assistance Initiative, funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Drug courts are one of the many tools the Department of Justice is using to combat overcrowded prisons and dangerous drug addictions. Listen along to find out how these courts are improving the justice system, and how American University is contributing in the fight against addiction. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just Field Identification Drug Officer_Drugs_042 Apr 23, 2018

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With this episode we kick off our Drugs season. Topics will range from legalization of marijuana in relation to police officers, the opioid epidemic, Electronic Dance Music Festivals, how witnesses' and victims' memory of events can be affected by alcohol, current vaping research, drug courts, and much more. Episode one features Nancy Crump, an Assistant Crime Laboratory Administrator at the Phoenix Police Department. In this episode Just Science discusses the creation of the Field Identification Drug Officer Program, also known as FIDO. Nancy and John discuss how the lack of laboratory resources creates an inefficient system for testing drugs found in the field and possible solutions for this issue. This season of Just Science is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence. Opinions or points of views expressed in this podcast represent a consensus of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of its funding.

Just So You Know: In Memoriam Dr. Eric Buel_Special Release_041 Apr 16, 2018

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This episode was funded by RTI International's Center for Forensic Sciences.

Just Talking Testimony_2018 IPTES_040 Apr 09, 2018

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In this special episode of the IPTES season recorded live in Crystal City, Just Science covers the panel titled, "Statistics and Testimony from the Practitioner and Juror Point of View." Moderators for the panel were Dr. John Morgan, Just Science host from RTI International, and Xiaoyu Alan Zheng, a mechanical engineer at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Prior to this recording, panelists gave presentations during the symposium on various statistical topics, including: "Statistical Interpretation and Reporting of Fingerprint Evidence at the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laborator" presented by Mr. Henry Swofford. "LR Testimony Cross-Examined" presented by Dr. Hari Iyer, and Dr. Steven Lund from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and Mr. Chris Fabricant. "Factors Which Influence Juror's Interpretation of the Value of Forensic Science Testimony" presented by Dr. Alicia Wilcox. Dr. Wilcox goes further into her research on a previous just science episode "Just A Juror's Perception" If you would like to watch their presentations, you can find them on the FTCoE website www.Forensiccoe.org This season of Just Science is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just Bayesian Brawl_2018 IPTES_039 Apr 02, 2018

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In episode nine of the IPTES season, Just Science is covering the Statistical Approaches to Forensic Interpretation panel, recorded live at IPTES. Moderators for the panel was your host Dr. John Morgan, from RTI International and Dr. Jose Almirall, Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida International University. Panelist gave presentations during the symposium on various statistical topics, these presentations were: "Reality Check - What Is Expected from Expert Witnesses", by Dr. Steven Lund. "Challenges Faced by Experts When Communicating Forensic Evidence to Triers of Fact: A Statistician's View" by Dr. Hari Iyer. "The Use of Similarity Measures (Scores) to Quantify the Weight of Forensic Evidence" by Dr. Cedric Neumann, from South Dakota State University. "Statistical Analysis in Forensic Science Evidential Value of Multivariate Data" by Dr. Daniel Ramos, from the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. "The Anatomy of Forensic Identification Decisions: Rethinking Current Reporting Practice in a Decision-Theoretic Perspective" by Dr. Alex Biedermann. If you would like to watch their presentations you can find them on the FTCoE website www.Forensiccoe.org This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just Handwriting Statistics_2018 IPTES_038 Mar 26, 2018

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In episode eight of the IPTES season, Just Science interviews Cami Fuglsby, a PhD student from South Dakota State University to discuss Sufficiency and Complexity Factors in Handwriting Examination. Did you know that increasing the size of the document improves the sufficiency of the document? Or that the likelihood of chance matches decrease as complexity increases? Follow along as we discuss Flash ID, shape-codes, and flipping algorithms on their heads. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just Consecutively Manufactured Toolmarks_2018 IPTES_037 Mar 19, 2018

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In episode six of the IPTES season, Just Science interviews Robert Thompson, a Senior Forensic Science Research Manager at the National Institute for Standards and Technology. Mr. Thompson discusses his research on consecutively manufactured barrels and Objective Comparison of Toolmarks Produced from Consecutively Manufactured Cold Chisels. The profile's similarity and differences were compared using two mathematical methods, cross-correlation function, and the recently developed congruent matching profile segments method. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just Footwear Size Matters Mar 12, 2018

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In episode six of the IPTES season, Just Science interviews Chris Hamburg, from the Oregon State Police Forensic Services Division, and Jeff Jagmin from the WSP Crime Laboratory Division in Seattle. Our guests discuss the process a footwear examiner goes through in order to capture test impressions. Their interactive workshop “Intra- and Inter-variability of Footwear Test Impressions” had attendees go through this footwear examiner process. The attendees could then see for themselves what variations occur on the test impressions depending on the examiner’s physical variations, such as height and weight. This episode of Just Science is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence [Award 2016-MU-BX-K110].

Just Geeking Out on Patterns_2018 IPTES_035 Mar 05, 2018

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In episode five of the IPTES season, Just Science interviews John Vanderkolk from the Indiana State Laboratory. In a previous episode, Mr. Vanderkolk used the term Nature's patterns, now he will discuss the philosophy behind the term and how he uses his Fracture Examination workshop to teach these ideas. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just Shoeprint Statistics_2018 IPTES_034 Feb 26, 2018

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In episode four of the IPTES season, Just Science interviews Andrew Kimble, a student from Albany State University. Mr. Kimble explains his research in how incorporating statistical models in forensic shoeprint analysis can assist in identification. This episode shows how a young forensic professional is finding his own path, along with aiding others in his community. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice's Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

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