CENE TO COURTR
OOM
The Global Forensic and Justice Center By Alexandra Pecharich with Michelle Chernicoff
E
very contact leaves a trace—it’s the
collectively work to improve forensic education,
fundamental principle that guides forensic
update the skills and knowledge of professionals
science. But the many types of evidence now
already in the field, develop new scientific tools,
available to investigators only reveals its value when
influence policy decisions and set the standard for
a battery of trained professionals comes together to
the use of forensic evidence in the administration of
make sense of it and use it appropriately.
justice. The goal is to connect science and society to
“The way we think about the administration of justice is changing, and FIU is at the forefront of the movement,” says Kevin Lothridge, director of FIU’s Global Forensic and Justice Center. “Incorporating information more broadly across the criminal justice process is the future.” The key: creating a culture of connectivity. No longer does anyone work in isolation but, rather, with a clearer view of how steps taken at the crime scene and in the lab impact what happens in the courtroom and, ultimately, society. The Global Forensic and Justice Center is a
effect fair and just outcomes.
“The way we think about the administration of justice is changing, and FIU is at the forefront of the movement. Incorporating information more broadly across the criminal justice process is the future.” — Kevin Lothridge, director of FIU’s Global Forensic and Justice Center
collaborative hub that today has contracts and grants
WORK ABROAD
that exceed $10 million, educates more than 60 current
For an illustration of that interconnectedness, one
undergraduate and graduate students and brings
need look no further than the National Forensic
together those who study science and those who
Science Technology Center (NFSTC) and the Center
administer justice. The idea originated with Kenneth
for the Administration of Justice (CAJ), to understand
G. Furton, FIU provost and executive vice president,
how science and society intersect. The two centers
who co-founded the International Forensic Research
have different missions—the one providing technical,
Institute on campus more than 20 years ago.
scientific training and support, and the other working
“The original concept back then was to be a highly interdisciplinary research institute,” Furton says. “The Global Forensic and Justice Center advances
to advance the practical application of justice—and each is making a global impact in pursuit of truth. For example: With funding from the U.S.
that dream as it is arguably the most interdisciplinary
Department of State and the Bureau of International
forensic center in the world.”
Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, NFSTC
Creating such a comprehensive center took bringing together four university entities that
welcomed 14 forensic scientists from Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Panama Continues FALL 2019 | 17
