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.
Shena Latcham’s answer is about language — and how much of it has shifted in twenty years.
“When I first started, we called people victims of crimes. Now we call them survivors of crimes.”
Terminology in the field evolves for reasons that matter: how we name something shapes how we think about it. She traces the same pattern through scientific terminology — investigative genetic genealogy becoming forensic investigative genetic genealogy, acronyms multiplying and transforming. “As the terminology sort of change as the years go on, and I’ve been doing this for 20 years, I have to unlearn the old terms and start implementing the new terms and put them in the context of the culture and the world that we’re now living in.”
Dawn Romano’s answer is about accountability.
“To accept responsibility when something goes wrong. I think that’s one of the most important aspects of a leader is to say, you know what, I was wrong. You were right, and let’s do this. I’ll learn from this.”
It’s a short answer, but specific. She’s not talking about mistakes in the abstract — she’s talking about the habit of stepping toward them instead of away.
Pam Marshall’s answer is about scope. Working at the bench, in a PhD program, in a narrowly defined specialty — all of it trains you to stay in your lane. Moving into education changed that.
“As an educator, you can think more outside the box and you’re going to be not testifying just on your own expertise. And so you can really offer a lot of your opinions.”
She describes working with students on 3D-printed handgun projects and drug chemistry problems. “I’m able to offer my advice in all of those specific disciplines, not just the DNA field.” The unlearning was giving herself permission to do that.
Meradeth Snow’s answer is harder to categorize.
“Especially a female in science. I find myself struggling against that preconceived notion that a lot of individuals are not terribly interested in listening to the women in the room.”
What she’s had to unlearn isn’t a technique or a terminology — it’s a way of carrying herself in rooms that weren’t always designed with her in mind. “That is something I’ve really had to force myself to not focus on or worry about as much, especially as the field has changed significantly.” She notes how visible the shift has been, including in the room where this conversation took place — four women on the ISHI Advisory Committee.
Meet the ISHI Advisory Committee
Dawn Romano is the DNA Technical Lead and Forensic Supervisor of the Biology Unit at Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Forensic Services Division.
Shena Latcham is a Forensic Scientist Supervisor in DNA Casework at the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory.
Meradeth Snow, Ph.D. is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Montana, specializing in degraded and ancient DNA, NGS, and forensic investigative genetic genealogy.
Pamela Marshall, Ph.D. is Associate Professor and Director of the Forensic Science and Law Program at Duquesne University and a member of Promega’s Forensic Leadership Alliance.
Courtney Campbell is a dedicated and experienced Supervising Forensic Scientist at the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS), where she has been employed for 20 years.