Nominations

ASCLD receives 1 complimentary sitting per calendar year for any American Board of Criminalistics, Inc. (ABC) examination. This scholarship is in memory of Edward Rhodes, who was a pioneer in forensic education and certification. The complimentary sitting is for either an ASCLD member or someone in a member’s organization. ABC examinations are hosted at the AAFS Annual Scientific Meeting, as well as other locations and times throughout the year. The Scholarship does not include the application fee or the costs associated with attending the AAFS meeting or traveling to the test site.

Eligibility

Applicant must meet the minimum requirements for taking the ABC exam and the application must be endorsed by a current ASCLD member. Applications are reviewed and ranked based on financial need and employer’s requirements. This application is for ASCLD only. The ABC application for the examination must be filled out separately.

Scholarship application submission deadline:

The application for any examination in the following year is due December 31.

The goal of the Forensic Research Committee Innovation Award is to recognize activities highlighting new technologies, protocols, or tools that impact the operational forensic science laboratory. The award is open to scientists from all disciplines in operational U.S. forensic laboratories (Bio/DNA, drug chemistry, toxicology, fingerprints, questioned documents, trace/microscopy, firearms/toolmarks, other) who have performed the highlighted work in the past two years.

The winners of the 2021 FRC Innovation Award are Linda Eisenhart, Joseph Stephens, Jocelyn V. Abonamah, Colbey Ryman, Paige Riley, Nirmeen Salah, and Brian Eckenrode of the FBI Laboratory for their project, "A Method for Generating and Harnessing Objective Data for Standardized Trash Mark Examinations."

The goal of the Forensic Research Committee LEAP Collaboration Award is to recognize an outstanding partnership between LEAP participating academic and operational forensic laboratories. The award is open to scientists from all disciplines such as Bio/DNA, drug chemistry, toxicology, fingerprints, questioned documents, trace/microscopy, firearms/toolmarks, and digital/multimedia sciences in LEAP participating operational and academic forensic laboratories.

The winners of the 2022 FRC LEAP Collaboration Award are NYSP Crime Laboratory System & University of Illinois at Chicago for the project, "Wild and Domesticated Touch DNA."

Previous Award Winners:

2021: John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the New York Police Department for the project, "Non-destructive DNA recovery from handwritten documents using a dry vacuum technique."

The goal of the Forensic Research Committee Evaluation/Validation Award is to recognize an outstanding evaluation/validation study that has been submitted to the FRC Validation and Evaluation Repository. The award is open to scientists from all disciplines (bio/DNA, drug chemistry, toxicology, fingerprints, questioned documents, trace/microscopy, firearms/toolmarks, other) in operational forensic labs or research laboratories.

The winner of the 2022 FRC LEAP Collaboration Award is Szabolcs Sofalvi of the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office for the project, "Development of Quadratic External Calibration Models using EZSTATSG2."

Previous Award Winners:

2021: L. Admire, North Carolina State Laboratory, "Implementing Hematoxylin into Casework at the North Carolina State Crime Laboratory."

ASCLD Member of the Year Award recognizes members who have embodied the ASCLD Mission, have participated substantively in ASCLD activities, or have contributed to an ASCLD project or committee. Please consider taking time to nominate one of the many members we have who have made it possible for ASCLD to make a difference in our industry.

The nominations will be scored based on the member’s involvement with ASCLD activities, the member’s external representation of ASCLD initiatives, and the member’s overall impact to the Forensic Science profession for the year. From the nominations received, one member is recognized at the Annual Symposium Awards Banquet.

Nominations are due by February 1.