Burning Out in the DNA Lab: A Wellness Panel on Stress, Trauma, and Taking Care of Yourself
Forensic DNA analysts spend years learning how to handle evidence. They are not typically taught how to handle what the evidence represents. The bodies, the children, the families waiting — all of it moves through the lab and out the door with the case file, but it does not always leave the analyst. That gap […]
What They’ve Had to Unlearn: A Conversation with the ISHI Advisory Committee
Progress in forensic science isn’t only about what gets added — it’s also about what has to be let go. The ISHI Advisory Committee was asked what they’ve had to unlearn throughout their careers. The answers are about language, leadership, identity, and scope. https://youtu.be/12CTfQpKgNI Shena Latcham’s answer is about language — and how much of […]
Dear Mentor: How Can Leaders Get Staff On Board with Changes?
She’s not trying to undermine the change. She doesn’t realize she’s resisting it. That’s not a generous reading of a difficult team dynamic. It’s what the behavioral science behind change actually shows. When someone has a natural propensity toward negative emotion, they tend to experience change as loss. They grieve it, or they fear it, […]
Speeding Up Cannabis DNA Analysis: A GWU Student Takes on the Drug Lab Backlog
Most forensic drug labs work with chemistry. GC-MS is the gold standard, and it does what it’s supposed to do — but it’s slow, and the backlogs are real. Rory Conn, a graduate student in forensic molecular biology at George Washington University, set out to see whether DNA could help. Her research builds on a […]
Dear Mentor: The Opportunity is Theirs First
A forensic lab manager sent the FLA mentors a question that comes up in most labs within the first year of someone stepping into management: when do you delegate a task to your team, and when is it better to handle it yourself? Some leaders may approach it as a time-management problem. Julie Sikorsky approaches […]
Dear Mentor: The Mission Bridges the Gap
Two FLA members from different states sent the Forensic Leadership Alliance a version of the same question, working at different points in their careers. How can leaders bridge generational gaps while still mentoring new staff into confident professionals? What strategies actually work when people on the same team think differently about how the work gets […]
The Science Led Them Here: Meet the 2026 ISHI Student Ambassadors
Every year, the ISHI Student Ambassador Program selects a cohort of students in forensic science to attend the symposium, present their research, and take their place in the professional community. Not as observers. As colleagues. The connections made at a conference like ISHI during your student years have a way of following you. The researcher […]
What They’re Still Figuring Out: A Conversation with the ISHI Advisory Committee
Experience doesn’t eliminate uncertainty. The ISHI Advisory Committee was asked what they’re still figuring out as forensic scientists. The answers are specific, honest, and probably familiar. Shena Latcham is still working on training. Not whether to train — how. Specifically: how to get analysts prepared to walk into a courtroom and hold up under scrutiny […]
Dear Mentor: Building a Lab Where Critical Thinking Thrives
Critical thinking in a forensic lab isn’t something that develops on its own. It develops because someone created the conditions for it, and those conditions don’t appear by accident. That’s the frame the FLA mentors brought to a recent question from the field: how can leaders cultivate critical thinking in their teams? Their answers weren’t […]