{"id":29412,"date":"2023-03-21T17:10:40","date_gmt":"2023-03-21T22:10:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/?p=29412"},"modified":"2024-03-05T14:13:12","modified_gmt":"2024-03-05T20:13:12","slug":"from-clues-to-facts-to-convictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.und.edu\/und-today\/2023\/03\/from-clues-to-facts-to-convictions\/","title":{"rendered":"From clues \u2026 to facts \u2026 to convictions"},"content":{"rendered":"

UND Forensic Science students tour North Dakota State Crime Lab, learning firsthand how evidence analysis works<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Malia Wellens (center), along with Nicolette Ras (left) and Jaden Eviota swab the inside of their cheeks to collect DNA samples at the North Dakota State Crime Lab. The UND Forensic Science students took part in an all-day field trip to learn how the experts process all sorts of evidence that eventually may be used to convict or clear suspects of a crime. Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Author\u2019s note:<\/strong> When the director of UND\u2019s Forensic Science Program asked if I would like to tag along with her students for an all-day field trip to Bismarck, I jumped at the chance.<\/em><\/p>\n

After all, the last fun field trip I could recall was when my sixth-grade class in Devils Lake, N.D., crammed into a sticky yellow bus and headed to the Big Top in the big city of Grand Forks. Our end goal, of course, was to see the Shrine Circus in the Hyslop Sports Center.<\/em><\/p>\n

This time around, our destination would be the pristine North Dakota State Crime Lab \u2014 where the only clowns would be the criminals, and the only talk of elephants would relate to an animal tranquilizer 100 times more powerful than fentanyl. <\/em><\/p>\n

Warning:<\/em><\/strong> You may find parts of this story disturbing. If you dare, come along with us for the ride \u2026<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

* * *<\/em><\/p>\n

We gathered before sunup \u2014 myself, about three dozen students and Assistant Professor Lavinia Iancu<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 in the Chester Fritz parking lot. Coffee in hand and wearing comfies and caps, some of us looked fresh out of bed yet ready for adventure.<\/p>\n

We had a long haul ahead, but no worries. We had WiFi, so there\u2019d be plenty of time for Netflix and<\/em> naps before we\u2019d need to crack open the three coolers stocked with sack lunches and sodas. (Thank you, UND Catering.) If we got hungry sooner, well then, our bus driver Kevin was sharing his butterscotch candies.<\/p>\n

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UND Forensic Science Director Lavinia Iancu gets ready to announce plans for her students\u2019 trip to the lab. Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOK, listen up,\u201d Iancu said, lifting a small red-and-white megaphone to her mouth before lowering it and adding with a wry smile, \u201cI have a siren, and I\u2019m not afraid to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

We laughed up front, but she apparently meant it and showed us by quickly flipping the switch to release a high-pitched wavering scream all the way to the back of the bus. She had everyone\u2019s attention now.<\/p>\n

\u201cOK, so the plan for us today is to go visit the DNA, toxicology and forensic chemistry divisions. We will rotate as three groups and have discussions with the experts,\u201d she explained. \u201cThey are going to do demonstrations for us. So, we will see how much interaction we can have. They are very busy and working on cases all the time, so we are lucky \u2014 not everybody gets this kind of opening. This is your chance to ask questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Students settle in on the bus. Photo\/J. Vonasek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The tour truly would be a one-of-a-kind learning experience. Not only would it mark the first time in 17 years a UND class had visited the lab, the students ranging from freshmen to seniors also would have all-afternoon access to about a dozen forensic experts.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a first, but I hope we\u2019ll be able to do it at least once a year,\u201d Iancu said. \u201cWe\u2019d also like to establish some summer internships. Unfortunately, that\u2019s not possible right now because they\u2019re understaffed, but we are working on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely love what I do, but forensic science can be very stressful, hard work. For me, it\u2019s also incredibly rewarding, but I want my students to understand that as forensic scientists, they\u2019ll have some very serious responsibilities. There\u2019s nothing closer to reality than what we\u2019re going to see today.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A very eager group of UND Forensic Science students waits outside the North Dakota State Crime Lab minutes after arriving in Bismarck for their all-afternoon tour. UND Forensic Science Director Lavinia Iancu (in front) says she strives to give her students as many hands-on and real-life experiences as she can. Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s time for a meet-and-greet<\/h2>\n

After all of the passenger names are called and checked off \u2014 and a buddy system established for rest stops \u2014 it doesn\u2019t take long for everyone to settle in. I figure it\u2019s as good a time as any to meet my neighbors.<\/p>\n

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Students watch a chemical reaction.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To my left was senior Yuliet Monatukwa<\/strong>, a double-major in Forensic Science<\/strong><\/a> and Chemistry<\/strong><\/a>. Already accepted into two graduate chemistry programs, Monatukwa said she hoped the tour would give her clarity on another possible career path \u2014 one focused more closely on analytical chemistry and toxicology.<\/p>\n

It so happened that the very next day, she was flying to Denver for an interview with the University of Colorado\u2019s Toxicology Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really looking forward to finding out what it takes to be a criminal investigator at a crime lab,\u201d Monatukwa said. \u201cDr. Iancu has given us so many hands-on experiences, and I think that really has cemented my decision to do something down that path. A person really has no idea about the application of theory until you actually try to apply it yourself. So I\u2019m curious, and I\u2019m going to ask a lot of questions today.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Yuliet Monatukwa, a double-major in Forensic Science and Chemistry, gets up close to watch a forensic expert conduct a color test for cannabis plant material. Before the 2018 Farm Bill defined hemp as any plant of the cannabis genus containing less than 0.3% THC by dry weight, scientists had a considerably easier task because all cannabis was deemed illegal. Now, they must conduct more targeted testing to differentiate between legal hemp and illegal marijuana. Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Malia Wellens<\/strong>, a senior and double-major in Forensic Science and Criminal Justice Studies<\/strong><\/a>, said she already had settled on graduate school at the University of Connecticut in New Haven.<\/p>\n

Though she also started out at UND as a chemistry major, she said she switched to Forensic Science with a focus on forensic biology.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it fits more with what I want to do,\u201d she said. \u201cOnce I learned about DNA analysis and the different branches of forensic biology, I was like \u2018That\u2019s my bread and butter.\u2019 I love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just a month earlier, Wellens began working for Iancu as a junior research assistant studying the effects of Clonazepam and Flunitrazepam \u2014 common drugs, known as benzodiazepines or psychoactive drugs, prescribed for seizures and panic disorders \u2014 on blowfly development. (The results of that research eventually could alter how scientists estimate time of death, but that\u2019s another story.)<\/p>\n

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Lethal drugs are kept under a protective hood.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the blue bucket seat next to Wellens was Jaden Eviota<\/strong>, a junior and another double-major in Forensic Science and Criminal Justice Studies.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cAs much as I find the lab interesting, I still think I\u2019m more into getting out in the field to do crime scene investigation. Growing up, I found that pretty much everything I watched on TV or the movies was forensics-related, so that\u2019s what got me interested at first. I\u2019m not sure exactly where I\u2019ll land, but all of this is helping me shape that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in front of me sat Nicolette Ras<\/strong>, a Pre-Med<\/strong><\/a> senior and double-major in Forensic Science and Criminal Justice Studies. She recently began working part time for Iancu as a teacher\u2019s assistant \u2014 doing everything from setting up lab trays and equipment for classes to handling logistics for the day\u2019s field trip.<\/p>\n

Ras said her ultimate goal is to become a medical examiner, and thanks to Iancu\u2019s tip about a job post, she\u2019s now learning the ropes as an autopsy technician at UND\u2019s Department of Pathology<\/strong><\/a>. The office handles cases of suspicious or unattended deaths in North Dakota.<\/p>\n

Wearing a quirky, sitcom-inspired Schrute Farms sweatshirt with a giant beet imprint, Ras added, \u201cIt\u2019s all so fascinating. I just love forensic science.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the TV shows, it\u2019s the next day and you have a DNA result. That\u2019s not quite how it works, but it\u2019s still going to be pretty cool to see where all the evidence we\u2019re packing up is going and to actually meet some of the people who are processing it. I\u2019m so excited for today.\u201d<\/p>\n

This tagalong agrees. There\u2019s no place an avid Ann Rule reader and true-crime junkie would rather be.<\/p>\n

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UND graduate and forensic scientist Charlene Rittenbach is the technical leader of the North Dakota State Crime Lab\u2019s Forensic Chemistry Unit. Above, she goes through the rules \u2014 no bags, no liquids, no photos \u2014 and the day\u2019s game plan with the students. Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Souvenirs from \u2018fantastic drug busts past\u2019<\/h2>\n

It takes a little more than four hours to reach our final destination, which turns out to be a gray building in a complex of other nondescript, one-story concrete buildings. First impression? From the outside, meh, nothing fancy. Inside, it\u2019s state of the art.<\/p>\n

UND graduate and forensic scientist Charlene Rittenbach is the first to greet us at the security entrance. We shuffle past a glass showcase of early-era breathalyzers and a collection of wildly artistic bongs \u2014 no doubt, paraphernalia treasures seized from fantastic drug busts past \u2014 into a large room that looks almost like any other business office. It\u2019s wall to wall cubicles and computers.<\/p>\n

Rittenbach, who also serves as technical leader for the lab\u2019s Forensic Chemistry Unit, tells us that this is where the scientists write their reports and review cases. Unlike some other crime labs, she explains, this one is all digital. Next, we\u2019re introduced to Brian Herz and Marc Larson, two more forensic scientists and UND alums. We hear a few rules \u2014 no bags, no liquids, no photos \u2014 and then we\u2019re off to the laboratories.<\/p>\n

For the next several hours, we\u2019re in a different world \u2014 a fascinating world where hard science turns evidence into fact. It\u2019s a world where criminal prosecutors get the goods to prove guilt or innocence in illegal drug and DUI cases, arson, rape and any number of other assaults and untimely deaths.<\/p>\n

I must admit for someone without a chemistry background, it felt as though everyone else was speaking a different language. Gas chromatography. Mass spectrometry. Liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Huh? Over and over again, as fast as my head was spinning, the students\u2019 heads were nodding as they peppered the experts with questions.<\/p>\n

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Marc Larson, another UND graduate and forensic scientist at the lab, holds up a brick of cocaine. Yes, it\u2019s the real thing, and it was confiscated in North Dakota. The top three drugs the experts say they usually see coming through the lab are cannabis, methamphetamine and fentanyl. For the most part, they said the clandestine manufacturing of fentanyl is taking place in Mexico, and the precursors of the drugs are originating in China. Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Up close, we watched the so-called presumptive tests and confirmatory tests to identify all sorts of suspected illegal drugs. FYI: The top three in North Dakota are cannabis, methamphetamine and fentanyl.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe uptick in opioids and fentanyl compounds and new synthetic drugs in the state is just huge,\u201d Rittenbach said. \u201cIt\u2019s like Whac-A-Mole just trying to keep up, and it wasn\u2019t that way with opioids just five years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most common way we see a lot of the opioids and fentanyl compounds now is in counterfeit oxycodone tablets,\u201d Herz said.<\/p>\n

Then pointing to a teeny-tiny drug sample under a protective hood, he added: \u201cIt\u2019s just crazy what people are putting into these things. You just think about how much is right there compared to a lethal dose. It\u2019s enough to kill everybody in this building at least four times over.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all these drug dealers really care about is making money. They don\u2019t care who overdoses or dies because once that news gets out on the street, it actually makes the product even more valuable \u2014 as messed up as that is. A lot of the users have been abusing opioids for years, so the heroin doesn\u2019t do it anymore. They\u2019re looking for something stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Very sophisticated machinery can break down the exact contents and amounts of particular chemicals in a single pill, explained Brian Herz, another UND graduate and forensic scientist at the lab. \u201cWith some of the most potent stuff, as much as a grain of salt can be a lethal dose to somebody. It\u2019s no joke,\u201d Herz said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen pictures from the DEA, where people are just putting a pill press in the middle of the room and cranking these out. There\u2019s powder all over. There\u2019s no quality control. They don\u2019t even know themselves what all they\u2019re putting in it. They just want to make money.\u201d Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Remember the elephants? Well, the latest trend for illegal drug dealers is to cut their opioids with veterinarian medicines such as the deadly large-mammal synthetic opioid called Carfentanil, and more recently with the tranquilizer Xylazine. FDA-approved as a veterinary medicine, Xylazine, known on the street as \u201ctranq\u201d or the \u201czombie drug,\u201d extends the effects of fentanyl and mimics the high of heroin. Narcan cannot reverse a Xylazine overdose, yet users continue to crave the high even while suffering from the drug\u2019s other nasty side effect: persistent infections that rot their flesh to the bone.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes people don\u2019t even know this stuff is in there,\u201d Herz said. \u201cThey can be at a party and think it\u2019s just a regular oxycodone tablet, but it\u2019s likely not. Your age group is their prime target. They want to get you hooked young. So, if you ever hear of anybody who has these (nonprescribed oxy) or wants to get some, I implore you to stop them or it could be the last time you see them alive. What\u2019s out there now is very scary stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sobering advice for sure, but what the DNA experts had to say next was equally sobering.<\/p>\n

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Students put on amber glasses so they can see otherwise invisible stains pop out on a training T-shirt. After cutting the lights in the room, the forensic experts shined different types of lights on the material to pick up biological traces of blood, saliva and semen. Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Oh, you think you can hide? Think again.<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s just something particularly discomforting about being asked to swipe a sterile cotton swab on the inside of your cheeks before sealing it inside an envelope with your name printed out front.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt won\u2019t go anywhere, I promise,\u201d Rittenbach assured us before we entered the DNA unit. \u201cWe just need your sample for quality control in case some of your DNA would shed here and we would find a foreign profile in some of our evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohhh \u2026 OK, I guess that makes sense. Even so, most of us agreed it was an unsettling, eerie feeling to be sharing something so near and dear as our own personal DNA with a state crime laboratory. (I mean, really, in what other situation would this be a good thing?)<\/p>\n

Next, we moved into the adjacent room, where we put on amber glasses and watched in the dark as forensic DNA experts demonstrated how different light sources can make otherwise invisible stains pop into view on a tattered black tank top. That\u2019s blood. That\u2019s bleach. That\u2019s saliva. That\u2019s semen. Eww.<\/p>\n

In this case, the clothing and stains were used only for training exercises, but when investigating a real crime, the experts said they would darken the room lights to mark the stains and then cut small samples from the fabric \u2014 always preserving enough DNA for the defense team \u2014 to run their tests.<\/p>\n

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Students try out the \u201cdrunk\u201d goggles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As though these demonstrations weren\u2019t macabre enough, things were about to get more shocking as DNA analyst, forensic scientist and state CODIS Administrator Amy Gebhardt shared the \u201ccase of (her) lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was in the fall of 2006, Gebhardt began, when a Valley City, N.D., college student was found brutally killed in her off-campus apartment. Two friends had discovered her body with a belt around her neck and a broken knife in her throat.<\/p>\n

As is common practice, the medical examiner had taken scrapings from beneath the victim\u2019s fingernails.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow I\u2019ve worked with fingernail scrapings my entire career, and most of the time, there\u2019s very little blood DNA from the perpetrator,\u201d Gebhardt explained. \u201cIt\u2019s usually mostly from the victim, but that\u2019s what made this case so rare.\u201d<\/p>\n

The preliminary tests were showing a male had contributed significantly to the blood sample. The lab then immediately entered the profile into the FBI\u2019s Combined DNA Index System, or CODIS, to see if it matched the DNA of any previous convicted offenders or arrest suspects. And they got a hit.<\/p>\n

The DNA belonged to an unknown perpetrator who had raped a woman two years earlier in Fargo. That victim survived, but she could tell police little about her attacker other than his race.<\/p>\n

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Longtime forensic scientist, DNA analyst and North Dakota CODIS Administrator Amy Gebhardt shares with students her \u201ccase of a lifetime,\u201d when DNA played a significant role in quickly finding a Valley City, N.D., killer. She told the students, \u201cFind ways to rejuvenate, recharge and keep perspective because in this job, you are immersed 100 percent of the time in the worst of humanity.\u201d Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe rest of the story is pretty crazy,\u201d Gebhardt went on to say as the wide-eyed students listened intently. She then explained how that following Monday, an overly curious man who lived in the same building as the victim had approached investigators who still were gathering evidence and taking pictures outside the apartment complex.<\/p>\n

\u201cA man comes up to one of the BCI agents and says, \u2018So do you have any idea who this could be? Do you have any leads on who could have done such a horrible thing?\u2019\u201d Gebhardt relayed. \u201cAnd they\u2019re like, \u2018Probably you.\u2019 But they didn\u2019t say that.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead, they said, \u2018No, but we\u2019re interested in collecting samples from people in the area who are willing to be elimination samples.\u2019 And the guy actually said, \u2018Oh yeah, sure, no problem.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s \u2026 what \u2026 we \u2026 count on: Stupidity! It\u2019s what I live for! These guys are so arrogant, and they think they\u2019re so much better and so much smarter than everybody else, but it\u2019s just beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

The investigators collect his sample, along with \u201celimination\u201d DNA from the victim\u2019s dad, her boyfriend and a couple of other friends, then drive from Valley City to Bismarck to hand-deliver the samples to the lab by midafternoon.<\/p>\n

Just three hours earlier, Gebhardt\u2019s supervisor and then-CODIS director had left for a meeting in Arizona.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew they were driving these samples up, so I quit what I was doing and got them on the instrument right away. \u2026 It\u2019s almost midnight. I\u2019m burned out. I\u2019m fried, but I\u2019m going to check the instrument one more time before I go home.<\/p>\n

I look \u2026 AND IT\u2019S HIM! IT MATCHES HIM! Oh my God! I\u2019m freaking out. I\u2019m alone in this small room. I\u2019m pacing. My hair on the back of my neck is standing up. I\u2019m shaking, and I\u2019m about to cry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moments later, Gebhardt wakes her boss with a phone call only to be directed to run the tests all over again. They must be certain none of the samples had gotten mixed up. Nope, by 4:30 the next morning, she gets the same results.<\/p>\n

This was an especially horrific crime, and now they know who did it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe said, \u2018This is your guy, Mo Maurice Gibbs.\u2019 They arrested him by 6:30 that evening and had a TV press conference by 10:30 that night,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

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Janelle Portscheller (blond-haired woman at left), state toxicologist and technical leader of the Toxicology Unit\u2019s biological section, explains to students how complex instruments can separate chemicals to determine their presence in infinitesimal amounts to the fourth decimal place. \u201cThese time-of-flight mass spectrometers are a newer instrument for labs,\u201d Portscheller said. \u201cThe reason they\u2019re being used for toxicology labs is because we have a huge problem with opioid abuse and analogs. Analogs are compounds made by attaching different portions to a core structure to make a new molecule. They\u2019re making a lot of different drugs, and this instrument will help us keep up with the different analogs emerging in the illegal drug market.\u201d Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Come to find out, she added, the suspect coached youth basketball and also worked at the jail, where he later was accused and convicted of assaulting several female inmates. He was shutting off the cameras to their cells.<\/p>\n

Her voice cutting out and now in tears, Gebhardt tells the students, \u201cThat\u2019s why I say this is a case of a lifetime. I guess my reason for sharing this case is to tell you that all these little steps \u2014 so clinical and sterile, piece by piece, the data, the profiles, the peak heights and all the statistics \u2014 sometimes it all comes together so beautifully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then, almost in a single breath, she blurts out: \u201cThis job, I\u2019m going to tell you, is dark. You should not be looking for semen in a diaper or on an \u2018Ariel, Little Mermaid\u2019 blanket. There are horrible things that happen in this state. Do not let our general good nature and low crime statistics fool you. Bad things that never make the news are happening in this state all the time. This is real life. I\u2019ve been here for 25 years, and there are days I\u2019m burnt out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was probably like you in my 20s, morbidly curious. I was \u2018Yes, give me all of it.\u2019 But it wears on you, and that\u2019s not something I expected. That\u2019s why I\u2019m telling you to be prepared. Keep your mental health a priority. Find ways to rejuvenate, recharge and keep perspective because in this job, you are immersed 100 percent of the time in the worst of humanity. … It is rewarding and it is wonderful, but IT IS DARK<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally, pausing to catch her breath, she asks, \u201cDo you have any questions?\u201d<\/p>\n

Somber and silent, the students have nothing to say.<\/p>\n

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UND Forensic Science Director Lavinia Iancu (holding heart sign on left) and her Forensic Science students join with scientists from the North Dakota State Crime Lab for a quick photo op before thanking them and saying their final farewells. Both Iancu and leaders at the lab say they are working on establishing a summer internship program for some time in the future. Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Back on the bus \u2026<\/h2>\n

I honestly didn\u2019t know what to expect from the field trip, but it certainly was eye-opening.<\/p>\n

On the long ride home, Iancu tells me she\u2019s always looking for ways to add value to the student experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love what I do and I can teach my courses, but we really have to think further than the academic training. What are my students going to do after they graduate? I feel responsible for their future,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m always thinking \u2018How can I improve? What can I add? What types of scholarships are out there? What sort of collaborations can I find?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI want my students to be able to network and make these connections. The most important goal for me with the crime lab and other hands-on experiences is to give these students their best chance to get hired in this profession.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what insight did the four students \u2014 Monatukwa, Wellens, Eviota and Ras \u2014 gain from hearing about real-life crime cases and seeing forensic science in action?<\/p>\n

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Goggles mimic different kinds of impairment.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Monatukwa said it was extremely valuable to learn what the labs are looking for in potential hires as far as specific education and training \u2014 not to mention, she was able to compile some great questions for her next-day interview in Colorado. And as an undergrad teaching assistant, she also was keenly interested in how the experts communicated the science to people with different levels of background and understanding.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m trying to learn how to be a teacher at the same time I\u2019m trying to learn how to be a forensic scientist, so watching how they might explain something to a layperson, or jury, was fascinating,\u201d Monatukwa said. \u201cI think you actually added value by being here and representing that layperson. Plus, all kinds of cross-networking happened on this trip, and I really enjoyed that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Wellens: \u201cPeople learn in a lot of different ways, and I think the hands-on experience can help a lot of people better grasp what they\u2019re studying. It\u2019s kind of a different experience when you\u2019re actually doing the work vs. just reading about the work. It makes me more excited to get to work in the lab setting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eviota agreed: \u201cI thought it was really cool to see how this CSI stuff actually works. In my mind, I was still thinking of everything in kind of sci-fi style with these big machines doing a lot of different things. This brought everything down to earth for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Ras summed it up this way: \u201cToday was so much fun and so inspiring. Everyone was so passionate about what they do, and it made me more passionate. We\u2019re so lucky to have someone like Lavinia who\u2019s pulling strings everywhere to get students experiences they\u2019d never get anywhere else. I absolutely loved it. Today just solidified how awesome forensic science is.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ PAST FORENSIC SCIENCE STORIES: <\/strong>A little fly told her<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and Was it the knife, the candlestick or the rope?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Charlene Rittenbach points out some visual cues often spotted by investigators when trying to first identify suspected illegal drugs. Photo by Janelle Vonasek\/UND Today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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