Kelsey Garner, left, with Cele Rossi. Photo by Rob Williams
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The Forensic and Investigative Sciences Program would like to congratulate senior Kelsey Garner on recently receiving her Forensic Technician during the spring minimester of the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service’s Forensic Science Academy at Riverside Campus.
Garner was awarded with the certificate at the end of the academy’s Crime Scene Investigation course. Held every January, the course prepares students on how to conduct proper and professional crime scene investigations using the latest techniques in the field today.
Garner was among the 10 participants that were enrolled in the weeklong course held during the week of January 12-15. Other participants were: Emily Grimshaw, Angela Ruffino, Jaeden Thomas, Isabell Gallegos, Cady Mello, Alexandra Gordy, Emily Vincent, Lloyd Sutherland, Garner, and Henry Junkert.
Participants from the spring minimester course. from left – right are: Emily Grimshaw, Alexandra Gordy, Kelsey Garner, Henry Junkert, Angela Ruffino, instructor Cele Rossi, Isabell Gallegos, Emily Vincent, Cady Mello, Jaeden Thomas, and Lloyd Sutherland. Photo by Rob Williams
To qualify for the Forensic Technician certificate, students must complete two intensive weeklong training sessions in Crime Scene Investigation and Latent Print Processing. Once the students pass the exams after each course, they receive a certificate and are awarded four credit hours for the courses.
The students learned real-world crime scene investigational techniques such as taking proper field notes, protecting and preserving evidence at crime scenes, proper photography techniques and sketching.
The lectures are then followed by hands-on training exercises in each technique, including photographing and sketching evidence, measuring crime scenes and packaging evidence. Students then used their skills they learned to investigate a mock crime scene that was set up in TEEX’s live-fire shoothouse located behind the firing range.
Students in the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service Forensic Science Academy’s Crime Scene Investigation class try their skills they have learned during the mock crime scene. Photo by Rob Williams
Garner enjoyed the class and said her favorite part was going through the mock crime scene with her group.
“I loved the fact that everything was hands-on and it was easier to retain the information since you are practicing what you learned,” Garner said. “It has been lots of fun.”
The Forensic and Investigative Sciences degree program at Texas A&M prepares students for careers that involve the collection, preservation, processing and use of evidence and information to solve problems. These careers include law, medicine, homeland security, public safety, political science, environmental quality, agriculture, public health, chemistry, anthropology, physics, computer science and business.
The partnership between the academic Forensic and Investigative Sciences program within the Department of Entomology and the vocational training provided by the TEEX Texas Forensic Science Academy is an example of a multi-agency partnership putting students first. This partnership between faculty and students of TAMU’s Forensic and Investigative Sciences program and experts from TEEX’s Forensic Science Academy continues to strengthen the curriculum at Texas A&M and offer students an opportunity to participate in cutting-edge technologies and current field methods.