Release

Media Advisory: Schodack Sixth Graders Tour UAlbany's Forensic Labs

Contact: Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 6, 2006)

What:
Students from Schodack Central Schools will tour the University at Albany Northeast Regional Forensic Institute's (NERFI) laboratories. Students will learn about police crime scene DNA sampling and witness DNA analysis.

When:
Tuesday, April 11, 2006, 9:15-11:45 a.m.

Who:
W. Mark Dale, director, Northeast Regional Forensic Institute
John Eagan, senior investigator, New York State Police
Don Orokos, forensic biology, NERFI, University at Albany
Bernard Laurenzi, professor, forensic chemistry, University at Albany

Where:
Northeast Regional Forensic Institute, Biology Building 1st floor, UAlbany uptown campus, 1400 Washington Avenue, Albany, N.Y.

Background:
About NERFI:
The Northeast Regional Forensic Institute (NERFI) is a collaborative partnership between the University at Albany and the New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center founded in 2004 with the support of New York Senator Charles E. Schumer. NERFI is designed to address a nationwide shortage of forensic scientists, which has created critical casework backlogs in labs across the nation. In 2005, NERFI established the DNA Academy, an academic program designed to shorten the conventional one-on-one mentor training programs of forensic scientists from one year to six months, with dedicated advanced forensic training facility, university-approved curriculum, and a staff of University at Albany faculty and nationally renowned visiting scientists. Students successfully completing the DNA Academy earn 12 graduate credits and meet all mandated state, national and international accreditation standards for forensic laboratories. For more information, visit the NorthEast Regional Forensic Institute.

College of Arts and Sciences:
The University at Albany's College of Arts & Sciences is the largest academic unit at the University. It provides the general education foundation of the undergraduate curriculum and is the intellectual base for study in a wide variety of disciplines at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The College's programs promote critical thinking and reasoning, aesthetic sensibility, and intellectual development, while providing career preparation to help students meet the challenges of the future and achieve their goals. For more information, visit the College of Arts & Sciences.