Designing and Building the Forensic Scientist Pipeline: From Academic Instruction and Outreach to Hiring, Onboarding, Training, and Mentorship

Chair

Ray Wickenheiser

Retired Director for the New York State Police Crime Lab System

Dr. Ray Wickenheiser, is the retired Director of the New York State Police Crime Laboratory System, formerly headquartered in Albany, New York.  Ray is now located in Lafayette, Louisiana, where he provides forensic consulting and training. His areas of expertise include crime lab administration, quality management, conflict resolution, forensic DNA and mixture interpretation, serology, hair and fiber trace evidence, physical matching and comparison, glass fracture analysis, forensic grain comparison and forensic investigative genetic genealogy. 

John Collins

High-Stakes Leadership Consultant and Executive Coach at Critical Victories

John Collins is a High-Stakes Leadership Consultant and Executive Coach at Critical Victories, a company he founded to help people, teams, and organizations thrive in high-pressure environments where perfection is an expectation and failure is a ticket out the door.  He is also among the most respected forensic experts in the United States, recently publishing his first book on leadership and management in forensic science, which was released by Academic Press just last month. 

Pamela Marshall

Director, Duquesne University

Dr. Marshall has extensive graduate and undergraduate teaching experience in the forensic disciplines of serology, DNA, and microscopy. Her research interests include low copy number DNA, human and wildlife DNA identification challenges, nanoparticle technology, pressure cycling technology, and PCR enhancement.

Julie Conover Sikorsky

Forensic Scientist Supervisor, Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office

Julie Conover Sikorsky is a Forensic Scientist Supervisor, a.k.a. Forensic Biology Unit Manager, at the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office in West Palm Beach, Florida. She has been employed by the PBSO for over twenty years, first as a Senior Forensic Scientist, then as the manager of the FBU. Julie is also a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and ABC certified in molecular biology.