UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- A free public lecture, "Careers within the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Laboratory," will be given by Jeffrey Friedel and Debra Calhoun of the Pennsylvania State Police. This event is the first of four presentations on forensic science and its use as a law enforcement tool in Penn State's 2013 Forensic Science Lecture Series. The lecture is free and will be held from 12:20 to 1:10 p.m. Monday, Sept. 16, in 117 Hetzel Union Building Auditorium.
In his lecture, Friedel will discuss the career of a patrol trooper. He also will discuss forensic investigations in the field and techniques used in the laboratory, including ballistics analysis, latent-print examination, the Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) system and questioned-document examination. In her lecture, Calhoun will discuss the career of a forensic scientist, with explanations of trace evidence, toxicology examinations, drug identification and serology -- the scientific study of plasma serum and other bodily fluids.
Friedel is a member of the International Association for Identification and he is an expert witness in latent-print examination and identification. In 1992, he joined the Pennsylvania State Police as a trooper and for the next seven years he worked in this capacity in various locations throughout the state. In 1999, he joined the Pennsylvania State Police's Bureau of Forensic Services, where he worked as a latent print examiner and became the ballistics section interim supervisor. He now serves as the division director of the Investigation and Operational Support Division. Friedel received a degree in criminal justice from Harrisburg Area Community College in 1990 and a degree in police administration from Eastern Kentucky University in 1991.
Calhoun is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, and she has qualified as an expert witness in serology, bloodstain-pattern interpretation, and the analysis of hair, fiber and drugs. In 1989, Calhoun began her career as a forensic scientist with Lima and Harrisburg Regional Laboratories. In 2004, she was selected as the serology supervisor at the Harrisburg Regional Laboratory. In 2007, she became the assistant director of the Scientific Services Division of the Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Forensic Services and, in 2010, she became the director of the Scientific Services division of the Pennsylvania State Police. Calhoun received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from the University of Scranton in 1989 and a master's degree from Duquesne University in 2007.