A few strands of fiber. Some flakes of paint. A drop of blood. These are just some of the trace material evidence that a forensic scientist oftentimes will have to work with to solve a homicide or other violent crime. We’ve seen it done on popular TV shows such as “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” and “Forensic Files.” Now students have a chance to play the role in real life.
UMass Lowell’s Chemistry Department, in partnership with the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, is offering a new program: B.S. in Chemistry with Forensic Science Option. Enrollment is slated to begin in the fall of 2008.
This is the only forensics undergraduate degree program at a public university in the state and one of only three in New England (the others are the University of New Haven and the University of Rhode Island). It meets the requirements and guidelines of the American Chemical Society and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences’ Forensic Science Education Programs Accreditation Commission. Its faculty includes Chemistry Profs. David Ryan and Eugene Barry, who is also the department chair, and Prof. Eve Buzawa, chair of the Criminal Justice Department.
“We sought guidance from the Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey crime labs in putting together this program,” says Barry.
“The law of supply and demand, I believe, is the driving force behind the program,” says Garrett Sheehan, a retired captain in the Lowell Police Department and an adjunct faculty member of the Criminal Justice Department. “The University of Rhode Island began its program only recently, and so the ability to recruit scientists trained in any aspect of Forensic Science has been, and continues to be, very limited.”
According to the Commonwealth Fusion Center’s crime report, in 2005 alone a total of 175 murders and 1,693 rapes were committed in Massachusetts. Currently, there are only a few dozen certified forensic chemists working in the state’s police crime lab.
“The crime lab is overworked and understaffed, resulting in a huge backlog of cases to process,” says Barry. Recent high-profile cases, such as the murders of Cape Cod fashion writer Christa Worthington and Hopkinton mother-and-daughter Rachel and Lillian Entwistle, have highlighted these shortcomings.
The new UML program will result in increased numbers of technically trained personnel for the fields of Chemistry and Forensic Science, with the potential for employment in the growing field of antiterrorism.
“Moreover, undergraduates need not go into the criminal justice or law-enforcement field,” says Barry. “Students will receive a degree that satisfies the requirements of the American Chemical Society so they can venture into other areas, such as the pharmaceutical industry.”
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