Syracuse University Project Advance (SUPA) brings two of Europe’s foremost forensic botanists to the United States this week for SUPA’s Forensic Science fall seminars. Patricia Wiltshire and David Hawksworth will be the featured speakers at the downstate seminar Wednesday, Oct. 13, on Long Island and at the upstate seminar Friday, Oct. 15, at Drumlins Country Club in Syracuse.
The professional development seminars are offered free of charge to SUPA faculty currently teaching Syracuse University’s “Forensic Science” (CHE 113) class in their high schools.
Wiltshire and Hawksworth also will speak about “the curious connections between fungi and criminal investigations” at a public lecture at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 14, in room 001 of the Life Sciences Complex at SU. This talk is co-sponsored by SU’s Dialogues in Forensic Science program. SUPA teachers are invited to bring their students to Thursday’s talk.
“Patricia and David have done the seminal work to define the emerging field of forensic botany and mycology,” said James T. Spencer, Meredith Professor and associate dean for science, mathematics and research in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences. “Their expertise spans traditional biological disciplines into areas of application to the world of criminal investigations.”
Wiltshire, of the University of Aberdeen, has worked on more than 200 cases, including some of Britain’s most notorious murders, such as the Soham schoolgirl murders and the Ipswich prostitute murders. Her specialty is palynology, the study of plant pollen. Hawksworth, of the University of Gloucestershire, is a prolific author who specializes in the ecology of fungi, particularly those forming lichens.
In an article published this summer in Forensic Science International, the two—who are married—detailed how molds, mushrooms and other fungi can provide valuable evidence of location, time of death, cause of death and other key details of a crime.
“I would like to show how ecology and botany have helped in many aspects of criminal investigation and, more specifically, the role of palynological analysis,” Wiltshire says of her presentation. She and Hawksworth plan to share case studies to demonstrate both the benefits and challenges of the evolving discipline of forensic mycology.
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor Jorge Luis Romeu has been awarded a Fulbright Specialist Award to teach three weeks of faculty development workshops at Universidad Francisco de Paula Santander (UFPS), Colombia. The Fulbright Program is devoted to increasing mutual understanding…
Two Syracuse University physicists have been named fellows of the American Physical Society (APS), the latest professional recognition highlighting the increasing visibility of the department’s faculty and research. Lisa Manning, professor of physics and founding director of the BioInspired Institute, and Christian Santangelo,…
On June 20, a whale researchers had named Punctuation was found dead in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, a busy international shipping channel. Punctuation—so named for her comma-shaped scars—was a North Atlantic right whale, a species severely threatened by human…
Please join us in welcoming J. Cole Smith as the new dean of the College Engineering and Computer Science. He comes to Syracuse from Clemson University, where he was associate provost for academic initiatives and previously served as chair of…
Mechanical engineering student Russell Fearon ’20 is one of nine national finalists for the EmPOWERED to Serve Business Accelerator and will present his work on Oct. 17 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C….
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
