By Meghan McKiernan

In February, the second-year students of Arcadia’s Forensic Science master’s program had the exciting opportunity to attend the 62nd annual meeting of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences in Seattle, Wash. There, the students spent a week attending the conference, networking with others in the field and expanding their knowledge of forensic science. During this time they interacted with working professionals and other students and learned about research being performed in laboratories from across the country. They also mingled with exhibitors who had demonstrations of cutting-edge instrumentation and techniques for the continually evolving field of forensic science.

On one of the days of the conference, five Arcadia students participated in the Young Forensic Scientists Forum. This workshop allowed the next generation of forensic scientists to display their work as researchers and to network with potential employers at the job fair.

The graduate students’ research began during the summer at the Forensics Mentors Institute at Fredric Rieders Family Renaissance Foundation, when they mentored Philadelphia high school students while guiding them through scientific research. They have continued the research throughout this school year, and the topics include Post Mortem Redistribution of Marijuana and its Metabolites (Carmen Affonso), Determining the Mechanism for the Formation of Methylation Artifacts in Serum Extracts Using Gas Chromatography (Jordyn Kramer), Determining the Stability of Salvinorin-A in Urine (Meghan McKiernan and Zachary Messenger), and A Method for the Quantitation of Drugs in Dried Bloodstains (Thomas Meyer). This was a great experience for these students to exhibit their hard work in the laboratory to peers and professionals in the field.

Since October, Affonso, Kramer, McKiernan, Messenger and Meyer also have presented their research as formal presentations and at poster sessions at the Mid-Atlantic joint meeting of Forensic Science in Orlando, Fla., and the Northeastern Association of Forensic Science in Long Branch, N.J.