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The Eberly College of Science

Forensic Science Faculty Research

Our faculty have a wide variety of research interests across all disciplines of forensic science.

Dr. Jason Brooks

My research interests are in:

  • Medicolegal Death Investigation
  • Veterinary forensic pathology
  • Pathology of gunshot wounds and estimation of range of fire
  • Estimation of postmortem interval

Dr. William Campbell

My research interests are in:

  • development of LC/MS techniques for drug analysis of bodily fluids 
  • development of HPLC phase chemistry for drug and alcohol analysis
  • analysis of various matrix types for trace analysis
  • development of HPLC/MS techniques for rapid analysis of designer drugs
  • learn more about Dr. Campbell

Prof. Susan Clutter

My research interests are in:

  • Crime scene investigation
  • Blood pattern interpretation
  • Fire science

Dr. Mitchell Holland

My research interests are in:

  • basic biological discovery, especially in the area of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genetics
  • leveraging the power of massively parallel sequencing (MPS) to 
    • measure rates of mtDNA heteroplasmy in different population groups
    • evaluate the transmission of heteroplasmic variants between maternal relatives and tissue types
    • assess the impact of damage on the interpretation of low-level heteroplasmic variants
    • develop best practices for the application of MPS approaches to forensic casework.
  • learn more about the Holland Research Group

Michael Kusluski

My research interests are in:

  • photonic visualization of gunshot residue patterns on victim clothing
  • reconstruction of shooting incidents involving automobile glass and complex surfaces
  • sequencing of bloodstain patterns

Dr. Jenn McElhoe

My research interests are in:

  • massively parallel sequencing
  • evaluating heteroplasmy in mitochondrial DNA
  • bioinformatics
  • applying statistical evaluation to datasets
  • learn more about Dr. McElhoe

Ralph Ristenbatt

My research interests are in:

  • areas related to crime scene investigation and reconstruction
  • analysis of traces at crime scenes including blood, firearms evidence, impression evidence, etc.
  • aspects of crime scene reconstruction as the apply to forensic veterinary pathology
  • learn more about Penn State CSI