Reshaping the Field: The May 2026 ISHI Report is Now Available
Most forensic scientists who become supervisors say the same thing when they look back: the skills that earned the promotion were not the skills the role required. They found that out on their own, after the fact. Nobody told them it was coming. That pattern, one of the most consistent in forensic lab leadership and […]
Introducing the 2026 ISHI Student Ambassadors: Irina Badell Garcia
Irina Badell Garcia is one of five ISHI 37 Student Ambassadors attending this year’s symposium in Providence, Rhode Island. The Student Ambassador Program gives emerging forensic scientists a place at the table before most of the field knows their names. Over the coming weeks, we’ll introduce all five. Irina is a PhD candidate at […]
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 […]
Before the First Case: Introducing ISHI On-Demand’s FIGG Module
Most forensic labs first encounter FIGG as an investigative possibility—a technology that solved a high-profile cold case, a grant that suddenly makes it fundable, an investigator asking whether a decades-old profile could yield a lead. The question comes before the framework. That sequencing matters. Forensic investigative genetic genealogy isn’t an extension of existing DNA workflows. […]
When One Identification Changes Everything: The Robert Eugene Brashers Case
The Wednesday keynote at ISHI 37 examines the Robert Eugene Brashers case — a multi-decade, multi-jurisdictional investigation resolved through the intersection of STR analysis, forensic genetic genealogy, and interagency collaboration — and the perspectives that emerge when a single identification reaches across decades of connected harm. The moment a DNA profile links one case to […]
What the Witness Stand Actually Requires: Introducing ISHI On-Demand’s Expert Witness Testimony Module
You’ve reviewed the case file. You know the results. You’re confident in the science. Then the defense attorney asks you a question you didn’t expect. The jury looks confused. A follow-up question rephrases what you just said in a way that isn’t quite right — and now you have to decide, in real time, whether […]
Two Landmark Cases. One Question: What Can Forensic DNA Do Now?
The Tuesday opening keynote at ISHI 37 examines two forensic DNA cases in which evidence types long considered limited for traditional analysis were evaluated using advanced sequencing and computational approaches — and what the analytical strategies behind those results mean for the field. Some evidence types have historically sat at the edge of what forensic […]
Mark Your Calendar: Where ISHI Is Headed Next
This article was written with the assitance of AI. The science brings you to ISHI. The destination is what stays with you. Over the next two years, we’re headed to two of the most exciting cities in the country — a sun-soaked SoCal bayfront and the beating heart of American music. If you’ve been on […]
One Night at Gillette Stadium
This article was written with the assitance of AI. Every year, the ISHI off-site dinner gives attendees a chance to step away from the sessions, connect over a meal, and experience something unique to the host region. This year, we’re taking that tradition somewhere special. The ISHI 37 off-site dinner takes place at Gillette Stadium […]