JS 679: Seminar in forensic Science

Taken Spring 2012 Instructor: Elizabeth Gardner During this class, first year students presented their research project proposals and the second year students present their final projects and defended. Everyone completed a research paper to accompany their presentation. While fall semester of seminar is somewhat informal, this semester is formal and should be taken seriously. Don't wait until the last minute to start on the research paper since it will take a good amount of time to find sources and edit everything. This class will give you even more exposure to presenting research findings in a scientific setting. Be prepared to answer questions about your research.

JS677:Topics in Forensic Science: Forensic Toxicology

Taken Spring 2009
Instructor:Elizabeth Gardner

This course was taken in the Spring of 2009 under the instruction of Dr. Elizabeth Gardner. The objective of the course was to discuss and analyze drugs and poisons as they relate to forensic science. There were no written exams in this class, however, there were assignments throughout the semester. The main assignment was a final project that consisted of using techniques used in labs to analyze a known drug. There were also smaller assigments which required using various instruments within the lab. There was a required text for the course and was used for a few of the assignments but not for any lecture material that was presented. This course was time consuming because the lab assignments were mostly performed outside of class time. I would recommend taking JS 673:Forensic Drug Analysis before taking this course because a lot of the instruments used in JS 677 were explained in more detail in Drug Chem.

JS677: Special Topics in Forensic Toxicology

Taken Spring 2009
Instructor: Elizabeth Gardner

This course served as an introductory class to the area of Forensic Toxicology. Spring 2009 was the first semester the class had been offered and the instructor's first time teaching a course in Toxicology. Overall, it was an informative course if the student took the personal initiative to do more on your own. First half of the semester consisted of powerpoint lectures and a few individual lab assignments. The most informative portion of the course involved a hands-on two day training session using the Toxi-lab kit. Other lab assignments included using the GC/MS on both known and unknown samples. The most tedious and somewhat unnecessary portion of the course included creating chapter outlines of each major class of drugs.

There were no tests so the majority of your grade comes from individual chapter assignments and the final project. Overall, if you are interested in merely scratching the surface of the area of toxicology and learning the basics this course would be a good idea. If you are interested in working in the area of Forensic Toxicology I would recommend taking a more advanced course in the actual Toxicology department.