Southern Association of Forensic Scientists

Southern Association of Forensic Scientists/American

Society of Trace Evidence Examiners

2015 Annual Training Seminar and Symposium

October 12-16, 2015

Georgian Terrace Hotel, Atlanta, GA

Join our Facebook group/event at www.facebook.com/groups/safsastee2015 and follow the meeting on Twitter (@safsastee2015)!

10/8/15 – Directions to the Hotel for Sunday click here: directions, maps

9/15/15 – Get the word out! Early registration closes Sunday, September 20! The block at the Georgian Terrace closes Monday, September 21!

9/11/15 – I was wrong about the block. There is still space available but only until September 21! Pass it on! The Textile Plant Tour is full!

8/31/15 – Workshop Descriptions have been updated. If you have registered, please pass along to anyone else you think will be interested in the meeting!

8/27/15 – There is only one spot left in the Physical Fit workshop and one spot left on the Textile Plant tour!

If you are interested in presenting about some research or interesting case, please contact your section coordinator (below) to present on Friday morning.

**WORKSHOP CHANGE**
Please note: there has been the following changes in workshop schedules:
The Physical Fit workshop will now be Tuesday MORNING
The FTIR workshop will now be Wednesday AFTERNOON

The meeting will be held October 12-16, 2015 in Atlanta, GA

at the gorgeous Georgian Terrace Hotel. This historic property is across the

street from the Fox Theater, where we will be holding our banquet on Thursday

evening. Please use the reservation link on our website to make your

reservations. The banquet at the Fox Theater will include rotating tours of the

theater.

Our general schedule of events for the meeting is as follows:
Monday – Workshops
Tuesday – Workshops
Wednesday – Workshops, ABC Exam, Atlanta Movie Tours
Thursday – Plenary Session AM, Business Meeting PM, Banquet at the Fox Theater

Friday (AM only) – Section Breakout Sessions (Drug Chemistry, Trace Evidence, DNA)

Highlights of our workshop schedule include a dynamic ethics

presentation by Dr.  Paul Voss from

Georgia State University. This workshop is not your usual, dry ethics

presentation. You don’t want to miss it. 

We have multiple off-site tours to various manufacturing

plants in the area that will be of interest to trace evidence examiners. These

tours are limited to 15 participants each, so you will want to register early

to reserve your spot!

The plenary session and business meeting on Thursday

includes a presentation on the Meredith Emerson case. Meredith Emerson was a 24-year old woman who was last seen alive

hiking on Blood Mountain in north Georgia with her dog on New Year’s Day 2008.

 Between January 1 and January 4, 2008, Emerson was abducted and murdered

by Gary Hilton.  Join us as investigators and scientists discuss the case

and how the forensic evidence led to the confession and conviction for not only

the murder of Meredith Emerson, but also Cheryl Dunlap in Florida and John and

Irene Bryant in North Carolina. Also during plenary we will have a presentation on battlefield forensics by Christine Swanson and Matthew Saluto of the Defense Forensic Science Center:

Disclaimer:  The

opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the author and

are not to be construed as official or as reflecting the views of the

Department of the Army or the Department of Defense. Names of commercial

manufacturers or products included are incidental only and inclusion does not

imply endorsement by the authors, DFSC, OPMG, DA or DoD.

What is Battlefield Forensics?

It involves taking the forensic science used in crime laboratories across the

United States and applying those same fundamentals to military operations

worldwide. The need for real time forensic exploitation has drastically

increased over the last decade because of the critical information it provides

to intelligence gathering and incident awareness. The Defense Forensic Science

Center (DFSC) has deployed mobile forensic laboratories to numerous countries,

while having to overcome unique challenges faced when trying to apply forensic

science in austere conditions.  While

always working to preserve the science, the challenges faced include deployment

locations, external environments, amenities and facilities.  Please join us for a look at those challenges

in a unique presentation on the DFSC Battlefield Forensics!

Friday morning will be section meetings for Trace Evidence,

Drug Chemistry, and DNA. If you have topics you would like discussed or would

like to do a presentation, please contact the corresponding section moderator.

Trace Evidence: Barb Fallon ([email protected])

Drug Chemistry: April Brown ([email protected])

DNA: Donna Ioannidis ([email protected])

We will be hosting an ABC exam on Wednesday afternoon. If

you are interested in sitting for the exam, please contact ABC directly.

Did you know Georgia has become Hollywood East? Many movies,

such as Anchorman 2, Mockingjay (part of the Hunger Games Trilogy), Antman, and

Captain America: Civil War, and TV shows, such as The Walking Dead and The

Vampire Diaries, have been filmed in the Atlanta area? If you are interested in

taking a tour of many of these sites on Wednesday afternoon, please contact

Diana Williams ([email protected])

to indicate your interest. The tour, by Atlanta Movie Tours, will be $70, which

represents a 25% discount. The tour buses are limited to 30 people. If there is

enough interest, we can book another tour session.

We hope you will be able to join us for a fantastic meeting.

If you have any questions, want to volunteer to help out at the meeting, or

have anything else you want to contact us about, please let us know.

We’re getting social! Connect with us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/groups/safsastee2015)

and Twitter (@SAFSASTEE2015)

Diana Williams, Social Chair, [email protected]

Nicole Astor, Program Chair, [email protected]

Larry Peterson, Workshop Chair, [email protected]