Soil Forensics International

Environmental Soil Forensics

Chair Professor Karl Ritz

Session organisers: Professor Karl Ritz, Professor David Miller and Dr Lorna Dawson

Dr Stephen Mudge, The University of Wales, Bangor

Case Studies
10.05 - 10.25 Jurian Hoogewerff and the TRACE Consortium, University of East Anglia, “Spatial provenance modelling for food and other natural products”

11.05 - 11.25 Pat Pollard, The Robert Gordon University, “The potential use of a novel heavy metal sensor and novel taggants in environmental forensic investigations”

11.25 - 11.45 Bob Kalin, David Livingstone Centre for Sustainability, Strathclyde University "Molecular Chemistry and Isotopes: What are the limits of their Forensic Application?"

Criminal Soil Forensics

Chair Ms Marianne Stam

Session organisers: Professor David Miller, Dr Lorna Dawson and Professor Karl Ritz

Professor Rob Fitzpatrick, Centre for Australian Forensic Soil Science

Case Studies
14.25 - 14.45 Mark Raven, CSIROLand and Water, “Overview of X-ray diffraction techniques with application to criminal and environmental forensic cases”

14.45 - 15.05 Duncan Pirrie, Matthew R Power, Patricia EJ Wiltshire, Gavyn K Rollinson, Julia Newberry and Holly E Campbell, University of Exeter, "Critical evaluation of the application of automated SEM-EDS (QEMSCAN) mineral analysis in criminal and environmental soil forensics"

15.45 - 16.05 Dave Barclay, The Robert Gordon University, “Meeting the user requirement-a case history”

16.05 - 16.25 Olga Gradusova and Ekaterina Michalovana, RussianFederalCenter of Forensic Science, “Technogenetics minerals as indicators of the scene of a crime”

16.25 - 16.45 Andrew Moncrieff, Hawkins and Associates, “The Soham Murder Enquiry – The nature of evidence and its context”

16.45 - 17.05 Stewart Black, University of Reading, “Sourcing geological materials left at crime scenes: An isotope approach”

18.15 coach

19.00-20.30

Geoforensics

Chair Dr Laurance Donnelly and Dr Jamie Pringle

Session organisers: Dr Laurance Donnelly and Dr Alastair Ruffell

08.45 - 10.20

08.45 – 09.05 Ian Hanson, University of Bournemouth, “New Observations on the Interactions between evidence and the upper horizons of the soil”

09.05 - 09.25 Richard Munroe, Munroe Geological Services Ltd., “Forensic Geology”

Ms Patricia Wiltshire, University of Aberdeen,

Professor Mark Harrison MBE, National Police Improvement Agency

Introduction by Dr Laurance Donnelly

11.15 – 11.35 Wayne Isphording, University of SouthAlabama, “The heavy metal component of soils: it’s use in civil and criminal investigations”

11.35 – 11.55 Ghasem Rahimi, J.S. Robinson and S. Nortcliff, University of Reading, “Assessment of aggregate sizes and phosphorus distribution in terms of landscape positions along Northing tramline”

11.55 - 12.15 Sabine Fiedler, Institute of Soil Science, University Hohenheim, “Localisation of a mass grave from the Nazi Era”

Geostatistics, Databases and Geographical Information Systems

Chair Ms Pat Bellamy

Session organisers: Ms Pat Bellamy and Dr Mark Brewer

Dr Murray Lark, Rothamsted Research Institute

Professor Colin Aitken, University of Edinburgh

15.00 - 15.20 Patricia Menchaca, Robert Graham and Marianne Stam, University, of California, “Update on the Development of a Searchable Forensic Soil Database (SQUID) in California, USA”

15.20 - 15.40 Heather Kerrigan and Jennifer McKinley, Queens University Belfast “Case studies in high resolution spatial variability of materials in forensic investigations”

15.40 - 16.00 Andrew Morrisson, Sue McColl, Lorna Dawson, Sue Cocks, Lynne Macdonald and Bob Mayes. RobertGordonUniversity, Aberdeen/Liverpool John Moores University, “The soil forensic university network - SoilFUN: results from North West England”

16.30 - 16.50 Bob Mayes, Lorna Dawson, Carol Smith, Andrew Morrisson, Jasmine Ross and Sarah Milton, The Macaulay Institute, “Using gas chromatographic information from plant wax compounds and similar substances for forensic matching of urban garden soils”

16.50 - 17.10 Stuart Walker, Flinders University, “A Critical Comparison of Conventional, Classic, Spectroscopic and Elemental Analytical Methods for Forensic and Environmental Soil Investigations”

17.10 - 17.30 Anna Williams and Tracey Temple, CranfieldUniversity, “Forensic and environmental responses to pandemics through an applied taphonomic approach”

Biological and Chemical Analytical Diagnostics

Chair: Dr Lorna Dawson

Session organisers: Dr Jacqui Horswell and Professor Mike McLaughlin

Professor Ken Killham, University of Aberdeen, Remedios

09.20 – 09.35 Leigh Burgoyne, James Waters, Graham Eariss and David Catcheside, Flinders University, “The advantages and limitations of DNA-typing soils and trace detritus from drug seizures using DNA arrays to assess the products from high-gain amplifications; an update”

09.35 - 09.50 Catriona Macdonald, Lynne Macdonald, Lorna Dawson and Jacqui Horswell, Institute of Environmental Science and Research, “Utilizing the soil organic component for forensic application”

09.50 - 10.05 Jean Robertson, Evelyne Delbos, Lorna Dawson, Kirsteen Angus and Andrew Morrisson, The Macaulay Institute, “In-situ FTIR Analysis of Soil Evidence on Clothing”

10.05 - 10.20 Alvin Smucker, Michigan State University, “Trace Evidence Extraction from Soils and their Concentration by Hydropneumatic Elutriation”

Forensic Taphonomy

Chair: Professor David Miller

Session organisers: Dr Mark Tibbett and Dr Shari Forbes

Dr Mark Tibbett, University of Western Australia

11.30 - 11.45 Kathryn L. Stokes, Natascha Heuer, Shari L. Forbes and Mark Tibbett,University of Western Australia, “Does soil type and its native microbiota have an effect on the decomposition of animal cadavers in a model system?”

11.45 - 12.00 Rachel Parkinson, Kerith-Rae Dias, Arpad Vass, Jacqui Horswell and Mark Tibbett, Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd., “Post-mortem Interval Estimation using Microbial Biomarkers”

12.00 - 12.15 David Carter, David Yellowlees and Mark Tibbet, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, “Using ninhydrin to presumptively test for gravesoil”

12.15 - 12.30 Shari L. Forbes, Laura Benninger and David Carter, University of OntarioInstitute of Technology, “The Biochemical Alteration of Soil by Decomposition Products”

Communications and Advocacy

Chair: Professor Rob Fitzpatrick

Session organisers: Ms Joanne Ashworth and Dr Derek Auchie

Ms Jo Ashworth, Head of Physical Evidence, National Police Improvement Agency

14.20 - 14.40 Clive Alcock, Chief Executive Cumbria Police Authority, “March of the gladiators – scientists entering the arena of lawyers”
14.40 - 15.00 Derek Auchie, The Robert Gordon University, “Expert scientific evidence and the law: some important pitfalls”

Public Lecture: The Global Way Forward

Chair: TBC

Public Lecture

Dr James Robertson, Forensic Laboratories of the Australian Federal Police