Note:
This awardee has received supplemental funding. This award detail page includes information about both the original award and supplemental awards.
Award Information
The Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCOE) supports the forensic science research and development program of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) through efforts to transition technologies from research into practice. RTI International has partnered with NIJ on the FTCOE since 2011 to provide objective support to forensic science stakeholders. As a world-renowned research institute, RTI has assembled a wide range of academic partners (including Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation (FEPAC) partners). In addition, the FTCOE engages forensic laboratories, industry, and practitioners to accomplish NIJ’s objectives and to address the needs of the forensic and criminal justice communities.
The FTCOE advances technology through the assessment of NIJ research & development programs for testing, evaluation, technology transition and implementation, dissemination, and collaborative partnerships. It shares knowledge about evidence-based best practices using a wide variety of strategies, including forums, reports, webinars, blended live and online meetings, podcasts, social media, and its website. The FTCOE also addresses challenges to the forensic science community by promoting the exchange of ideas and connecting researchers, practitioners, industry, and other stakeholders in open dialogues at conferences.
During the proposed period of performance and subject to NIJ direction under the cooperative agreement, the RTI Team will provide technology assistance, facilitate the demonstration of new technologies, provide access to research and educational materials, and develop and communicate the scientific and social impact of forensic science to the field. Along with the NIJ, the RTI Team will work to develop criteria to evaluate these and other programs.
FTCOE initiatives to guide research dissemination and technology assistance include technology implementation workshops and assistance programs, in-field evaluations, critical reviews and technology landscape reports, guides for best practices, and interlaboratory comparison studies. Proposed outreach activities (guidance documents, forums) specifically designated for diverse populations will promote inclusion within the forensic community. By directly engaging the community through discussions among laboratory directors and researchers (e.g., Virtual Round Tables), participating in national conferences with practitioners, and hosting researcher–practitioner collaboration events and working groups (e.g., Impression, Pattern and Trace Evidence Symposium, Footwear Intelligence Development Group), the FTCOE will provide a transformative platform to assist in achieving NIJ’s Forensic Science Strategic Research Plan, 2022–2026.
NIJ and its FTCOE team will work toward a new strategic future of providing evidence-based resources about forensic technologies and emerging challenges to enable forward-leaning methods to agilely drive innovation. NCA/NCF
The Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCOE) supports the forensic science research and development (R&D) program of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) through efforts to transition technologies from research into practice. RTI International has partnered with NIJ on the FTCOE since 2011 to provide objective support to the forensic science community. As a world-renowned research institute, RTI has assembled a wide range of academic partners (including Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission [FEPAC] partners). In addition, the FTCOE engages forensic laboratories, industry, and practitioners to accomplish NIJ’s objectives and to address the needs of the forensic and criminal justice communities.
The FTCOE advances technology through the assessment of NIJ R&D programs for testing, evaluation, technology transition and implementation, dissemination, and collaborative partnerships. It shares knowledge about evidence-based best practices using a wide variety of strategies, including forums, reports, webinars, blended live and online meetings, podcasts, social media, and its website. The FTCOE also addresses challenges to the forensic science community by promoting the exchange of ideas and connecting researchers, practitioners, industry, and other stakeholders in open dialogues at conferences.
During the proposed period of performance and subject to NIJ direction under the cooperative agreement, the RTI Team will provide technology assistance, facilitate the demonstration of new technologies, provide access to research and educational materials, and develop and communicate the scientific and social impact of forensic science to the field. Along with NIJ, the RTI Team will develop criteria to evaluate these and other programs.
FTCOE initiatives to guide research dissemination and technology assistance include technology implementation workshops and assistance programs, in-field evaluations, critical reviews and technology landscape reports, guides for best practices, and interlaboratory comparison studies. Proposed outreach activities (guidance documents, forums) specifically designated for diverse populations will promote inclusion within the forensic community. By directly engaging the community through discussions among laboratory directors and researchers (e.g., Virtual Round Tables), participating in national conferences with practitioners, and hosting researcher–practitioner collaboration events and working groups (e.g., NIJ R&D Symposium, Footwear Intelligence Development Group, Medicolegal Death Investigation Working Group), the FTCOE will provide a transformative platform to assist in achieving NIJ’s Forensic Science Strategic Research Plan, 2022–2026.
NIJ and its FTCOE team will work toward a new strategic future of providing evidence-based resources about forensic technologies and emerging challenges to enable forward-leaning methods to drive innovation agilely. NCA/NCF
The Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCOE) supports the forensic science research and development (R&D) program of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) through efforts to transition technologies from research into practice. RTI International has partnered with NIJ on the FTCOE since 2011 to provide objective support to the forensic science community. As a world-renowned research institute, RTI has assembled a wide range of academic partners (including Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission [FEPAC] partners). In addition, the FTCOE engages forensic laboratories, industry, and practitioners to accomplish NIJ’s objectives and to address the needs of the forensic and criminal justice communities.
The FTCOE advances technology through the assessment of NIJ R&D programs for testing, evaluation, technology transition and implementation, dissemination, and collaborative partnerships. It shares knowledge about evidence-based best or promising practices using a wide variety of strategies, including forums, reports, webinars, blended live and online meetings, podcasts, social media, and its website. The FTCOE also addresses challenges to the forensic science community by promoting the exchange of ideas and connecting researchers, practitioners, industry, and other stakeholders in open dialogues at conferences.
During the proposed period of performance and subject to NIJ direction under the cooperative agreement, the RTI Team will provide technology assistance, facilitate the demonstration of new technologies, provide access to research and educational materials, and develop and communicate the scientific and social impact of forensic science to the field. Along with NIJ, the RTI Team will develop criteria to evaluate these and other programs.
FTCOE initiatives to guide research dissemination and technology assistance include technology implementation workshops and assistance programs, in-field evaluations, critical reviews and technology landscape reports, guides for best practices, and interlaboratory comparison studies. Proposed outreach activities (landscape reports, forums) specifically designated for diverse populations will promote inclusion within the forensic community. By directly engaging the community through discussions among laboratory directors and researchers (e.g., Virtual Round Tables), participating in national conferences with practitioners, and hosting researcher–practitioner collaboration events and working groups (e.g., NIJ R&D Symposium, Footwear Intelligence Development Group, Medicolegal Death Investigation Technology Working Group), the FTCOE will provide a transformative platform to assist in achieving NIJ’s Forensic Science Strategic Research Plan, 2022–2026.
NIJ and its FTCOE team will work toward a new strategic future of providing evidence-based resources about forensic technologies and emerging challenges to enable forward-leaning methods to drive innovation agilely. NCA/NCF
Grant-Funded Publications
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Just Science Podcast: Just Forensic Podiatry Supporting Investigations
Date Published: November 2024
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Just Science Podcast: Just Resolving a Capital Murder Case in Denton, Texas
Date Published: November 2024
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Next Generation Sequencing Virtual Roundtable: Perspectives from Early Adopters and Researchers
Date Published: August 2024
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Just Science Podcast: Just Increasing Access To Drug-Checking Services
Date Published: July 2024
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Just Science Podcast: Just Navigating Reentry Using Peer Support
Date Published: July 2024
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Just Science Podcast: Just Outreach Teams for Substance Use in Rural Nevada
Date Published: July 2024
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Just Science Podcast: Just Improving Forensic Toxicology Testing In DC
Date Published: June 2024
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Just Science Podcast: Just Rapidly Identifying Drugs Involved in Suspected Overdoses
Date Published: June 2024
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Just Science Podcast: Just Wastewater Drug Surveillance In Kentucky
Date Published: June 2024
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Graphic Description – Frequently Used Data Elements Collection Systems And Primary Documentation
Date Published: April 2024
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Graphic Description – Medicolegal Death Investigation Case Specific Frequently Used Data Elements And Chart
Date Published: April 2024
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The Impacts of Governing Agency: A Comparison of Resources in the Patchwork of Medicolegal Death Investigation Systems
Journal: Forensic Science International: SynergyDate Published: April 2024
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Intelligence and the Value of Forensic Science
Journal: Forensic SciencesDate Published: March 2024
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DNA Recovery After Sequential Processing Of Latent Fingerprints On Black Polyethylene Plastic
Journal: Journal of Forensic SciencesDate Published: February 2024
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Forensic Science Failure Mode And Effects Analysis Application
Date Published: February 2024
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General Provider Resources: Medical Records For Medicolegal Death Investigations Toolkit
Date Published: February 2024
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Graphic Description – Medicolegal Death Investigation Frequently Used Data Elements For Toxicology And Seized Drugs
Date Published: February 2024
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Just Science Podcast: Just Lessons Learned in Forensic Technology Transition
Date Published: February 2024
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Technical Note – The Use Of Neutral Losses And Common Fragments Screening By QTOF In Forensic Laboratories
Date Published: February 2024
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White Paper – Forensic Community Drug Database Conceptualization
Date Published: February 2024
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Discussion of the FTCOE’s Guidance Document on Considerations for Photographic Documentation in Sexual Assault Cases
Journal: Sexual Assault ReportDate Published: 2024
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Just Science Podcast: Just Building Partnerships to Advance Forensic Technology
Date Published: January 2024
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Just Science Podcast: Just Enhancing Research to Improve Tech Transition
Date Published: January 2024
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Just Science Podcast: Just Improving Forensic Technology Transition
Date Published: January 2024
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Mass Fatality And Disaster Response Preparedness Across Medical Examiner And Coroner Offices In The United States
Journal: Forensic Science International: SynergyDate Published: 2024
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Technology Use Among the Nation’s Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices: Data from the 2018 Census of Medical Examiner and Coroner Offices
Journal: Forensic Science International: SynergyDate Published: 2024
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A Landscape Study of Computed Tomography Scanners for Postmortem Applications
Date Published: December 2023
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Drug Surveillance Initiatives: An FTCOE Repository Of Resources
Date Published: December 2023
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Interactive Map: Medicolegal Death Investigation Data Flow
Date Published: December 2023
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Navigating Medical Examiner And Coroner Office Accreditation Challenges: A Practical Guide
Date Published: December 2023
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Success Story: NIJ And The New York City OCME Validating Confirmatory Body Fluid Identification Assays For Real-World Impact
Date Published: December 2023
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Technical Note – Analysis Of Marijuana And Marijuana Products
Date Published: December 2023
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Technical Note – Direct Analysis In Real Time Mass Spectrometry (DART-MS)
Date Published: December 2023
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Technical Note – Gas Chromatography Vapor-Phase Infrared Spectroscopy (GC-VIR)
Date Published: December 2023
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Technical Note – Gas Chromatography-Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectroscopy (GC-VUV)
Date Published: December 2023
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Technical Note – Microcrystal Tests
Date Published: December 2023
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Technical Note – Ultra-High Performance Liquid Chromatography Photo Diode Array Ultraviolet Single Quadrupole Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-PDA UV-MS)
Date Published: December 2023
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What FSSP Leaders Should Know About Artificial Intelligence And Its Application To Forensic Science In-Brief
Date Published: December 2023
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What Medical Examiner’s And Coroner’s Offices Should Know About Molecular Autopsy
Date Published: December 2023
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White Paper – Electronic Death Registry In Medicolegal Death Investigation
Date Published: December 2023
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White Paper – Electronic Medical Records In Medicolegal Death Investigation
Date Published: December 2023
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White Paper – Evolving Approaches And Technologies For Seized Drug Analysis
Date Published: December 2023
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White Paper – Information Sharing Between Medicolegal Death Investigation Offices And Organ And Tissue Recovery Organizations
Date Published: December 2023
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White Paper – Information Sharing Between Medicolegal Death Investigators And Toxicology Testing Services
Date Published: December 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Collecting Fingerprints Without Contact
Date Published: November 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Facial Recognition for Forensic Investigations
Date Published: November 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Footwear Impressions on Fabric
Date Published: November 2023
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A Roadmap to Improve Research and Technology Transition in Forensic Science
Date Published: October 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Adding Value Using Voice Identification
Date Published: October 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Investigating a No-Body Homicide in Canada
Date Published: October 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Collaboration in Forensic Research
Date Published: June 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Embracing Imperfection in Forensic Science
Date Published: June 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Thriving in a Forensic Workplace
Date Published: June 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Workplace Stress and Its Impact on Decision-Making in Forensics
Date Published: May 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just DNA Evidence in Sexual Assault Cases
Date Published: April 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just DNA Searches in CODIS
Date Published: April 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Improved Response to Sexual Assault
Date Published: April 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Certification for Death Investigation
Date Published: March 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Family Support During Death Investigations
Date Published: March 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Lending a Hand During Autopsy Exams
Date Published: March 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just DNA Results in Rapid Time
Date Published: February 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Internships for Death Investigation
Date Published: February 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Managing Mass Fatality Incidents
Date Published: February 2023
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Assessment of carbon, oxygen, strontium, and lead isotopic variation in modern Colombian teeth: An application to human identification
Journal: Journal of Forensic SciencesDate Published: 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Teeth and Technology
Date Published: January 2023
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Sampling and recovery of ignitable liquid residues (ILRs) from fire debris using capillary microextraction of volatiles (CMV) for on-site analysis
Journal: Journal of Forensic SciencesDate Published: January 2023
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Just Science Podcast: Just Identifying Gacy's Victims Part 1
Date Published: December 2022
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Just Science Podcast: Just Identifying Gacy's Victims Part 2
Date Published: December 2022
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Just Science Podcast: Just Identifying Lake Erie John Doe
Date Published: December 2022
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Just Science Podcast: Just Autopsy Results and Crime Scene Reconstruction
Date Published: November 2022
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An Introduction to Forensic Genetic Genealogy Technology for Forensic Science Service Providers
Date Published: September 2022
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Just Science Podcast: Just Identifying Decedents through Postmortem Prints
Date Published: September 2022
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Just Science Podcast: Just Identifying Individuals with Forensic Genetic Genealogy
Date Published: September 2022
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Just Science Podcast: Just Leveraging Databases for Human Identification
Date Published: September 2022
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Just Science Podcast: Just Using Forensic Art and Anthropology for Identification
Date Published: September 2022
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American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors Accreditation Initiative: Successes, Challenges, and Future Directions
Date Published: August 2022
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Helping Identify Potential Drug-Related Deaths: What to Tell the Coroner or Medical Examiner's Office
Date Published: August 2022
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Just Science Podcast: Just a Curious Case of Print Persistence
Date Published: August 2022
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Just Science Podcast: Just Forensic Archaeology and Body Dump Sites
Date Published: August 2022
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Just Science Podcast: Just Solving Cold Cases with Forensic Genetic Genealogy
Date Published: August 2022
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Just Science Podcast: Just the Forensic Laboratory Workforce Part 2
Date Published: July 2022
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Identifying forensically relevant urban scavengers in Johannesburg, South Africa
Journal: Science & JusticeDate Published: May 2022
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Implementation Strategies: Next Generation Sequencing for DNA Analysis
Date Published: September 2021
Grant-Funded Events
- Hair Root Staining – What Can Hematoxylin Do for Your Laboratory?
- 2022 NIJ Forensic Science Graduate Research Symposium
- Skeletal Sex Estimation and Practitioner Use of MorphoPASSE
- Forensic Fractography of Bone: A New Model for Skeletal Trauma Analysis
- Transition Analysis 3 Age-at-Death Estimation: Past, Present, and Future
- Digital Caseload Processing with the NIST National Software Reference Library
- Age Estimation from the Pubic Symphysis: Back to Basics
- The State of Standard Development & Tools for Assessing and Implementing Standards
- Dental Morphology: The Informative but Lesser-Known Traits
- 2023 Humanitarian and Human Rights Resource Center Virtual Library
- 2023 NIJ Forensic Science R&D Symposium
- Stress, Trauma, and Burnout in Forensic Scientists
- Low Prosecution Rates in Sexual Assault Cases: Can We Make Sustainable Improvements?
- Vaping in the Weeds: The Merging of the E-cigarette and Cannabis Industries
- Qualifications of an Expert Witness for Legal Professionals (Part I: The Daubert Standard)
- Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry (DART-MS) for Seized Drug Analysis
- Forensic Use of GPR and LiDAR Technology for Clandestine Grave Detection
Similar Awards
- A Study of a Statewide Safe Firearms Storage Message Campaign in Texas Schools
- Evaluation of the Kings Against Violence Initiative's (KAVI) Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Program (HVIP)
- Bail, Bias and Bargaining: Investigating Racial Dynamics in Plea Negotiations across Local Court Communities