Reproducing Bloodstain Patterns – 28th Conference of the Northwest Association of Forensic Scientists

The 28th conference of the Northwest Association of Forensic Scientists was held in Tacoma, Washington September 26-30.  Scientists from Washington, Idaho, and Oregon gathered to share research and exchange ideas.  Karen taught an 8 hour workshop on Wednesday dealing with the reproduction of bloodstain patterns.  Lecture topics included the scientific method, proficiency testing and the recent NAS report.  For the hands-on portion students used pig blood to re-create bloodstain patterns and test their hypotheses regarding the deposition bloodstains.  The students were enthusiastic with their experiments and their eagerness to learn contributed to making the class a success (note:  Should a crime occur in a certain room at a certain Tacoma  hotel, a  field test for porcine blood on observed bloodstains may help reduce confusion later in the lab).