College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University

CSI Ames

Forensic science program underway at Iowa State.
Interest in forensic science has spread from television sets across the country to Iowa State University.

A new academic program in forensic science has been developed under the leadership of faculty and staff members in three academic departments in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

"The program is different than any other that we know of in the United States, in the sense that it seeks to prepare students to contribute to forensic science primarily by doing research," said Patricia Thiel, distinguished professor in liberal arts and sciences and professor of chemistry. "Other programs all seek to train people to work in crime labs. Our goal is much different and has been greeted warmly by the forensic science community.

Thiel coordinates the program along with Lynn Clark, professor of ecology, development and organismal biology, and Linda Wild, program coordinator in genetics, development and cell biology.

The program, which was approved by the Graduate College and the Faculty Senate last fall, offers students a graduate certificate. Thiel describes the graduate certificate as sort of a "graduate minor."

The program requires students to take three graduate-level forensic science-related courses outside of their major area of study. There are also other requirements that are designed to bring students into close contact with the forensic science community.

"The program is highly interdisciplinary in a number of respects," Thiel says, "including the coursework required, the faculty who participated in formulating the program, and the students it is drawing."

Disciplines represented in courses offered for the graduate certificate range from anthropology to computer engineering, from veterinary pathology to statistics, and from chemistry to sociology, to name just a few.

In its first semester, about a half dozen students have already signed up for the forensic science graduate certificate. Thiel says she is averaging at least one inquiry per week from someone who wants to enroll in the program.

"We think this program will be a great tool for recruiting excellent graduate students to Iowa State," she said. "For the students, it is important to go from being casual curiosity seekers, to deciding if forensic science is an area they want to incorporate somehow into their careers."

But it is the seminar course, which participants in the graduate certificate program must take on two separate occasions, that is drawing the most attention.

This spring more than 60 students are enrolled in the two-credit course, of whom two-thirds are undergraduates. The undergraduate enrollment is limited to juniors and seniors who have a declared major in one of the physical, biological, mathematical, or social sciences, or in an engineering discipline.

The course meets every Wednesday at noon and is highlighted by guest presentations. Thiel says that one group of speakers consists of Iowa State faculty such as Wayne Rowley, professor of entomology, who discussed establishing the time of death by using insects found on corpses, and Doug Jacobson, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, who described aspects of cyberforensics, such as recovering electronic data that might be evidence of criminal activities.

Another speaker was Gary Wells, distinguished professor of liberal arts and sciences and professor of psychology, and a world-famous expert on eyewitness identification. Wells' talk provided a strong illustration of how basic research can impact the interpretation of forensic evidence and, in turn, how this can impact the criminal justice system.

Presentations by outside experts have also been a staple of the seminar. An Iowa prosecuting attorney and a district court judge gave their views of the use of forensic science in the courtroom, while the head of the Iowa Criminalistics Laboratory talked on "scientific sleuthing." An FBI exmainer and the Story County Sheriff will also address the class before the end of the semester.

"The off-campus people bring in real world expertise," Thiel said. "For instance, Sandy Stoltenow (supervisor of the Controlled Substance Identification Section in the Iowa Criminalistics Laboratory) talked about how a state crime lab is organized, what types of work it does, and what types of new developments she and her colleagues would like to see. This is a perspective that no one on campus could have provided."

Thiel also had praise for her faculty colleagues.

"The faculty have shown the students how research contributes to forensic science," she said. "We want the students to understand that research is necessary in this field, so that they can seize opportunities to fill this need during their careers, if they wish."

To emphasize that point, students must write a four-to-ten page research proposal for the seminar course.

Not only is the class full, but also every class period a number of people drop in to hear that week’s discussion.

"It's clear that students are really intrigued by this area," Thiel said.

The TV show "CSI" and related programs have clearly been major influences on students. Thiel estimates that nearly half of prospective Department of Chemistry undergraduate students, and a significant number of graduate students as well, are saying they want to explore being a forensic chemist.

She suspects that the numbers are similar in related academic areas.

"Television has played a large part in the interest," she said. “"But I suspect that homeland security is also a factor.

"I know there are students who are curious about forensic science, and hopefully this program will satisfy some of their interest," Thiel continued.