CSAFE student and recent criminal justice and biology graduate James Kruse is well on his way to becoming a talented forensic scientist. Through a CSAFE Summer 2017 Research Experience for Undergraduates participant, CSAFE undergraduate employment opportunities, and now as a new interdisciplinary graduate student studying genetics/genomics, biomedical sciences, and sociology, CSAFE is providing hands on research experience to prepare Kruse for his future career in forensics. Learn more about Kruse’s work with CSAFE and the journey towards his dream job of DNA criminalist in the Iowa State LAS College Link Alumni Magazine.
From the article:
During his internship, Kruse gained a statistical and forensic foundation by working on a shoeprint data logging project to help develop an experimental statistical model for shoe sole identification. Kruse’s work during the summer was so impressive that CSAFE retained him as a permanent undergraduate researcher after the end of his internship.
Kruse’s hard work is not going unnoticed in the forensics field. He submitted an abstract on his work with the shoeprint project that was accepted by the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and he presented a research poster at their 70th Annual Scientific Meeting in Seattle, Washington.
“It is no small feat,” Carriquiry (CSAFE Director) said. “And he is the only undergraduate student from ISU to go this year.”
“He has initiative, is creative, hard-working and has great attention to detail. He jumps in with everything he has, and is exactly the type of student we want working for CSAFE,” Carriquiry said.
What Jimmy has to say about CSAFE:
“I came into CSAFE knowing very little about how statistics fits into forensic science. I just knew it was important. Over the past year, the team at CSAFE helped me to not only understand this connection, but to apply it,” said Kruse.
“Our program manager Stacy Renfro has given me responsibility and pushed me to grow. The principal investigator on my project has helped me understand the way the project works and how to do my job. Sarah Carraher, the communications and outreach coordinator, helped me submit my first abstract to a conference. Dr. Carriquiry is always willing to give advice on school or post-college,” he said.
*Photos Courtesy of Iowa State University Photographer Christopher Gannon*
