Nov 19 2019

Fall Edition of The ISHI Report Now Live

The Fall edition of The ISHI Report is now live! We hope that many of you were able to participate in the 30th International Symposium on Human Identification that took place in Palm Springs.

This issue includes features and interviews with several speakers and attendees from the just completed conference.

A very talented team of students pursuing advanced degrees in forensic science acted as “ISHI Ambassadors” during the meeting. Allison, Fabiana, Mirna and Rachel will relate their takeaways from the symposium and offer their advice for students interesting in attending the meeting.

Conference attendees and forensic scientists, Catherine MacMillan and Amy Jeanguenat chaired a table topic during ISHI to discuss how vicarious trauma can impact those who work on crime scene samples. Our interview with them provides their personal perspective on this issue and suggests resources that can be helpful to the forensic community.

Use of genetic genealogy to solve criminal cases was a topic addressed in pre and post symposium workshops and featured in several of the general session talks. Ken Doyle explores how genetic genealogy and other advances in technology are solving cold cases.

And speaking of new technologies, Chelsea Juarez describes how isotopes can provide useful information in cases where little is known about a decedent, including their country of origin. She provides practical guidelines for what samples and isotopes will yield the most useful results.

This is just a sample of the features you’ll find in this issue of the ISHI Report. As always, we welcome your ideas and written contributions to our publication.

Start reading!