Ms. Mayes was a recipient of an award under NIJ’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program.
Carrie Mayes is pursuing her Ph.D. in Forensic Science at Sam Houston State University. She is researching molecular techniques for forensic body fluid identification and the application of these techniques on environmentally challenged samples. The funding from the GRF allowed me to purchase reagents and consumables used for my project that were specialized and not usually carried in our lab, says Carrie. Through the NIJ GRF, I was afforded the opportunity to present my research at several conferences and engage with people from academia, industry, various levels of government, and consultants. These interactions helped me understand how these fields work together in the forensic community and my potential role in the future. She notes, My research has allowed me to contribute to the foundation of knowledge necessary for the forensic community to move forward with a confirmatory method for body fluid identification.