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Congratulations to MVA Scientific Consultant’s WHITNEY HILL 2008 AAFS Award Recipient
 MVA’s Whitney Hill has been named a recipient of the 2008 Emerging Forensic Scientist (EFS) Award given by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). Whitney will be presented the award at the AAFS February 2009 61st Anniversary meeting in Denver, CO. Whitney recently spoke at the February AAFS meeting in Washington about Forensic Applications of the Transmission Electron Microscope (TEM).
Whitney presented research of how the TEM can be instrumental in forensic trace evidence analyses. According to Whitney, “TEM is rarely used as an analytical tool in forensic science. However, it can be very useful in this area because of its ability to analyze the morphology of small particles, gather elemental composition information on very small particles because of its beam concentration ability, and determine the internal structure of particles, whether crystalline or amorphous, via electron diffraction. Using TEM in forensic science trace evidence examinations can augment other analysis tools by gathering morphological, elemental and internal structure information on very small particles that may be overlooked or not easily analyzed using other microscopical techniques.”
A recent environmental forensic case study that Whitney worked on included a stain on the window of a building painted with an off-white architectural paint. There was a question of whether this stain was caused by the architectural paint itself or the caulk around the window. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Polarized Light Microscopy (PLM) were used to characterize the constituents of the paint, however, by including TEM, thin nano-sized iron fibers, not detected by either SEM or PLM, were observed and characterized. The iron fibers were found to be a component of what was causing the stain.
Whitney’s research clearly shows the advantages of using TEM along with other microscopic techniques to characterize and identify particles, specifically nanoparticles, for forensic purposes. MVA is extremely proud of Whitney and her accomplishment in achieving the AAFS Emerging Forensic Scientist Award.
MVA Scientific Consultants Readies for Summer Travel
As summer approaches and people are planning their vacation travel, scientists at MVA are also making plans. Several MVA Scientific Consultants’ employees are preparing to speak and/or teach at renowned meetings around the country this summer. Rich Brown will head to Colorado in June to teach a short course offered by the National Ground Water Association. The course, Environmental Forensics:Methods and Applications, will be held in Greenwood Village just outside Denver. In July, Rich will travel to Illinois with fellow scientists, Randy Boltin and Whitney Hill. The three will represent MVA Scientific Consultants at Inter/Micro 2008 in Chicago. Whitney Hill will present her paper on “Forensic Applications of the TEM”, for which she earned the 2008 Emerging Forensic Scientist (EFS) Award to be given by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) later this year. “Particle Shape/Morphology; Limitations of Automated Systems” and “High Dynamic Range (HDR) Imaging with Reflected Light Microscopy” will be presented by Rich Brown and Randy Boltin will present “Analysis of Black Particles.”
MVA SCIENTIFIC CONSULTANTS EXPANDS SAMPLE PREPARATION CAPABILITIES
MVA Scientific Consultants has recently acquired a JEOL SM-09010
Cross Section Polisher. This equipment will enhance MVA’s current
preparation techniques by allowing the preparation of sample sections that
are polished to a mirrored surface with a single step and with a minimum of
sample damage. The SM-09010 Cross Section Polisher produces cross
sections created by an ion beam that mills almost any material, including
soft materials (copper, aluminum gold, solder, polymers) and more difficult-
to-cut materials (ceramics and glass).
MVA SCIENTIFIC CONSULTANTS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TESTIFIES BEFORE CONGRESS
 James Millette, PhD., recently testified as an Expert Panel Member for the US House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce (Subcommittee on Environment and Hazardous Materials). The Legislative Hearing on S.742 and Draft Legislation to Ban Asbestos in Products was held on February 28, 2008. Dr. Millette testified about the analytical methods needed for the legislation.
To read Dr. Millette's testimony, Click Here.
MVA
SCIENTIFIC CONSULTANTS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
TO RECEIVE AWARD
The American Academy of
Forensic Sciences will be awarding Executive
Director, James Millette, PhD.,
the Engineering Sciences Section’s Andrew
H. Payne, Jr., Special Achievement Award at
the AAFS Annual Meeting on February 20,
2008, recognizing his pioneering work in
Environmental Forensic Microscopy. In 2007 Jim co-authored,
with Rich Brown, also of MVA Scientific
Consultants, a chapter in the textbook, Introduction
to Environmental Forensics, in which
he describes environmental sampling, product
identification, automated emission particle
analysis, and a number of case studies
dealing with the investigation of unknown
particulates.
In addition to receiving the award, Jim will also present a paper and be a member of a panel discussion on "Potential Solutions to Sick Building Syndrome Challenges."
MVA Scientific Consultants employees, Whitney B. Hill and Richard S. Brown, will also present papers at the same meeting. The AAFS 60th Annual Scientific Meeting will take place on February 18-23, 2008 in Washington, DC.
The Big Picture Just Got Smaller
Now, Confocal Raman Microscopy
(CRM) gives MVA Scientific Consultants even greater
analytical precision. Only a handful of labs
in the country have this exciting new technology,
which combines optical and spectral imaging at
the 0.1 micron level. Learn more on our CRM
Capabilities page.
MVA Scientific Consultants to Air on The Investigators
MMark your calendars to watch The
Investigators Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at 11pm (EST)
on Court TV. The episode, entitled The Devil Inside,
is about the Shannon Melendi murder investigation and will highlight
the role MVA Scientific Consultants played in the forensic examination
of 10 year old evidence.
For more information about The Investigators, click
here.
To read past Court TV articles about MVA's involvement
in the case, click on the following links:
MVA Scientific Consultants
Welcomes W. Rucks Winkeljohn, PH.D as latest staff
addition
MVA Scientific Consultants is pleased
to announce the newest addition to its staff, W. Rucks Winkeljohn, Ph.D..
MVA takes pride in surrounding themselves with the best and brightest
people, and we are very excited about Rucks joining the MVA family.
Rucks’ background includes synthetic organic chemistry and IR
spectroscopy and he will augment the Raman and IR Microscopy Lab
at MVA.
The addition of Rucks to the staff reaffirms MVA’s
commitment to setting the standard for professionalism and quality in
the field of microscopy.
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