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SinC Into Great Writing VI!
Featuring Donald Johnson,
Beatrice Crofts Yorker, Katherine Roberts, Elizabeth Smith, Cat Warren and
Jan Burke
Wednesday ♦ November 12, 2014
7:30am - 4:30pm ♦ Long Beach, CA
Sisters in
Crime is holding their annual SinC Into Great Writing 2014! one day prior
to Bouchercon. Bouchercon registration is not necessary to attend this one
day workshop.
Hear from outstanding experts on
processing crime scenes, trace evidence, medical serial killers, cadaver
dogs, homicide investigation, and arson investigation. Try your
hand at going over a crime scene. All of our experts have experience
in the fields they’ll be talking about. You don’t need a science background
— just an interest in how scientists and investigators do their
work! Sisters in Crime is sponsoring this all-day forensic science
workshop for its members on the day before Bouchercon. You’ll
not only hear from these experienced experts, you’ll have opportunities to
ask questions, learn how to get more information, and get tips on use
forensic science research in your writing. A box lunch is included. An
all-day forensic science seminar, including a box lunch, for $50.00! The
event will be held at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Long Beach.
Note Well: Because our speakers are human beings and because they may be
called upon to handle cases or testify in court, program subject to change
without notice.
A Forensic Science Day with Jan
Burke
7:30 - 8:00
am: Registration
8:00 - 8:10
am: Welcome
and introduction by Hank Phillippi Ryan. Logistics announcements by Jan
Burke
8:10 - 9:00
am: Session
1 -- Crime Scene Processing with Donald Johnson. Don Johnson is a
professor of forensic science at CSULA and director of the criminalistics
program there. He has both worked in the field and trained law
enforcement and forensic science professionals to evaluate crime scenes and
collect evidence.
9:00 - 9:50 am:
Session 2 -- Medical Serial
Killers with Beatrice Crofts Yorker. Internationally recognized expert
on medical killers, Bea Yorker is the Dean of of the College of Health and
Human Services for CSULA, of which the university's forensic science
programs are a part.
9:50 - 10:05 am: Break
10:05 - 10:55 am: Session 3 -- Trace Evidence with
Professor Katherine Roberts. Like our other experts from CSULA, Dr.
Roberts is an extraordinary forensic science researcher with practical
experience. She will tell us all about the latest breakthroughs in this
area of forensic science, and what can be learned from trace evidence. She
is the interim director of the California Forensic Science Institute.
10:55 - 11:25 am: Question and Answer Session for
morning speakers
11:25 - 11:55 am: Lunch Break (box lunch)
11:55 - 12:40 pm: Session 4 -- Hands On Death
Investigation: "Two dead at scene." You are the trainee
detective called out to investigate a double murder. Be on time! Be
prepared! Bring your notepad and pen! Veteran Los Angeles Sheriff's
Department Homicide Detective Elizabeth Smith will provide an interactive
experience for you in crime scene investigation.
12:40 - 1:30
pm: Session
5 -- Cat Warren is a cadaver dog handler and the author of a
fascinating book on working dogs, What the Dog Knows. Working
with Dogs to Find Human Remains
1:30 - 1:45 pm:
Afternoon
break fruit/sodas/coffee/tea provided
1:45 - 2:35 pm:
Session 6
-- Arson Investigations. Bob Cheng, Captain of the Arson
Investigation Unit of the Long Beach Fire Department, will talk to us about
the science of fire investigation.
2:35 - 3:15 pm:
Session 7
-- Question and Answer Session for afternoon speakers
3:15-3:30 pm Break
3:30-4:30 What Writers Need
to Know about Forensic Science and How to Learn More About It This
will be an interactive session. Jan Burke will talk to you about both the
benefits of using forensic science in your writing and some pitfalls to avoid.
She’ll tell you how to research forensic science and she'll spend time
answering your questions. She’ll also be available after the
event to offer you further help.
Cost: $50 for SinC Members. Not a
member? Join us at the Active or Professional level ($35/$40), and then
return to complete your registration. You can return to this page and click
"workshop registration".
When: Workshop check in begins at 7:30
am in front of the workshop room.
Where: Renaissance Long Beach Hotel 11
E. Ocean Blvd. Long Beach, CA 90802. Room details will be sent closer to
the event. You may stay at the Renaissance or stay at one of the other
conference hotels and take a short walk to the Renaissance. The conference
hotels will extend the discounted conference rate to you if you call them
1-562-437-5900 directly. Fly in Tuesday night and start the workshop on
Wednesday.
Presenters:
Professor Donald Johnson has been actively involved in
the forensic sciences for over two decades, both as a practitioner and
academician. His career began with service to the Lucas County Coroner’s
Office and the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner. He then advanced
to senior criminalist at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, where
he was an ASCLD/LAB qualified DNA analyst and specialized in the forensic
investigation of violent crimes. Professor Johnson continues to serve
forensic laboratories as a consultant and trainer. Professor Johnson
received his graduate degrees at the UCLA School of Medicine, and has
published on research in neurobiology and criminalistics in scientific
journals such as Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science,
and the Journal of Forensic Sciences. His research has received National
Institute of Justice research grants. Professor Johnson is additionally
investigating the role and impact of forensic evidence in the criminal
justice process under a National Institute of Justice research grant given
to Drs. Peterson and Sommers of the CSULA School of Criminal Justice and
Criminalistics. Professor Johnson brings his casework and research
experience to the classroom in his teaching of forensic science to
undergraduate and graduate students at CSULA.
Katherine Roberts is a Professor at California State
University, Los Angeles and the Director of the university's Criminalistics
MS Degree Program. She has served on the National Institute of
Justice's Technical Working Group for Education and Training in Forensic
Science. Dr. Roberts’ research interests relate to the development and
application of analytical methods to enhance the value of forensic
evidence. Her current projects focus on nuclear/mitochondrial DNA analysis
and trace evidence analysis.
Beatrice Crofts Yorker is the Dean of the College of
Health and Human Services for California State University, Los Angeles, of
which the School of Criminal Justice and Criminalistics, and the
university's forensic science programs are a part. She has both a juris
doctorate from Georgia State University College of Law and master's degree
in nursing from the University of California, San Francisco. She has
published groundbreaking research on hospital homicides, Munchausen
Syndrome by Proxy, and medical serial killers.
Elizabeth Smith is a homicide detective with the
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Cat Warren is a former newspaper reporter
and is currently a professor at the University of North Carolina, where she
teaches a variety of reporting, editing, and science journalism classes.
She is also a cadaver dog handler and author of What the Dog Knows: The
Science and Wonder of Working Dogs, about dogs who work in the military, in
police departments, and by searching for both contemporary and historical
missing remains. She'll talk about how cadaver dogs and their handlers are
trained, the environments and conditions they work in, and what we do and
don't yet know about how dogs find the missing dead.
Jan Burke is a lifetime member of Sisters
in Crime and the recipient of MWA's Edgar Award for Best Novel. A New York
Times and USA Today bestselling author, she is also an active advocate for
the improvement of public forensic science. She founded the Crime Lab
Project and has been an invited speaker at meetings of the National
Institute of Justice, the American Academy of Forensic Science, the
American Society of Crime Lab Directors, the California Association of
Criminalists, and other forensic science organizations. She is a member of
the advisory board of the California Forensic Science Institute. With Dr.
DP Lyle, she hosts Crime and Science Radio, an online program produced by
Suspense Magazine.
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