Forensic Science Seminar Series

Each semester, the Forensic Science Student Association at NJIT hosts speakers at our Forensic Science Seminar Series. Members of FSSA will also have the opportunity to network with professionals working in the forensic science field at these events.  Please email Prof Fisher any speakers you would like to have at NJIT. Please click here to see our past speakers.

Sept 28th @ 10am: “Biochemical Connections between Biomedical and Forensic Science Research”

Sara C. Zapico, PhD, ABC-MB, C-MDI, is an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences at NJIT. She is also a research collaborator at Smithsonian Institution. She received her PhD in biochemistry, with a focus in biomedical sciences from the University Institute of Oncology of Principado de Asturias (IUOPA) in Spain, and her Master’s in Forensic Anthropology and Genetics from the University of Granada, in Spain. After that, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Smithsonian Institution and an associate at the forensic unit from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva, Switzerland, completing her postdoctoral training with other visiting scientist positions. Before coming to NJIT, Sara was the graduate program director of the Professional Science Master’s in Forensic Science at Florida International University. Her research interests focus on the application of biochemical techniques to forensic science issues, like age-at-death estimation and the determination of post-mortem interval, with implications in aging and biomedical research.

Sept 30th @ 10am: “Sexual Assault Investigations”

Steven Green is a veteran police officer spending 26.5 years with the NYPD and retiring as of August 2020 at the rank of Captain.  His career includes time spent with Rescue and Recovery efforts as a Sergeant after 9/11, a Module Lieutenant with Narcotics Borough Manhattan North, and finally 5 years as the Commanding Officer for the Detective Bureau Special Victims Division Zone One consisting of the Bronx and Manhattan. In this final role, he oversaw thousands of investigations that involved child homicides, stranger and acquaintance sexual assaults, and a myriad of sex crimes that included celebrities.  He is an expert consultant on police policy and continues to be fascinated by the interplay of sex and violence as the basis of human behavior.

Oct 5th @ 10am: “Virtual Reality Crime Scenes”

Professor Brian Olson is the Forensic Science Course Coordinator at the County College of Morris (CCM). He works at the nexus of science, art, and technology, bringing an interdisciplinary spirit of collaboration to bear on innovation, research, and science education. Professor Olson collaborates with faculty in the Department of Criminal Justice, the Department of Information Technologies, and the Photography Program at CCM to create virtual reality death scenes for use in education. Professor Olson also built a dollhouse of death and has begun introducing life-like forensically accurate murder victims into his forensic science course. In collaboration with Dr. Kazaba, his forensic science class and his students at CCM have been featured on NJTV/PBS.

Oct 21st @ 10am: “Fingerprint Comparison and Identification: Theory, Practice and Future Challenges”

Ido Hefetz, MS, has worked for the Forensic Science Division of the Israeli Police since 2009.  During his expertise he acquired knowledge and experience in fingerprint identification, and became qualified to give testimony in court as a fingerprint expert. He is in charge of QA management in the lab, and of instructing and teaching at the Police College. He is involved in research and development in the areas of recovery and comparison of fingerprints, and DNA extraction from fingerprints. He holds a Master's Degree in Bio-Medicine Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a B.Sc. in Brain Studies from Bar-Ilan University.

Nov 4th @10:00am:  “Analytical Chemistry in Forensic Science”

Candice Bridge, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the National Center for Forensic Science. She received her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Central Florida. Dr. Bridge was a postdoctoral associate at the Center for Research and Education of Optics and Lasers at UCF before joining the Department of Chemistry faculty at Howard University. She then worked at the U.S. Army’s Defense Forensic Science Center as a Forensic Scientist and then a Research Scientist before joining UCF. Her current research focuses on the analysis of trace evidence forensic materials to understand the uniqueness of chemical features. Using a variety of mass spectrometry techniques, they look to develop analytical methods that can increase the validity and evidentiary value of forensic evidence, which is determined using chemometric statistical techniques

Nov 23rd @10am: “Wildlife Forensics – from Investigation to Enforcement”

Captain Shannon Martiak graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in Natural Resource Management.  She is currently employed with the NJ State Conservation Police and oversees operations in the Central District (Mercer, Burlington, Monmouth, Middlesex, and Ocean Counties).  She is certified as a police training instructor and teaches emergency medical training for recruits at the Monmouth County Police Academy. 

Dr. Nicole Lewis, DVM, obtained her BSc from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College and her Master’s degree and DVM from the Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island, Canada. After graduation she worked as a small animal and exotics veterinarian in private practice in New Jersey, then as a field veterinarian with the NJ Department of Agriculture before starting her current position as the state wildlife veterinarian in 2019. Dr. Lewis has taken certification courses in both domestic and wildlife forensics and assists conservation officers in forensic cases as well as biologists in confiscated animal repatriation efforts in New Jersey.

Contact Prof. David Fisher (dfisher@njit.edu) for more information.