In episode two of our Sexual Assault Awareness Month mini season, Just Science sat down with Marya Simmons, founder and CEO of Shift in Notion Consulting, to discuss victim advocacy during a pandemic.  

The arena of sexual assault response reform has seen a shift toward victim-centered approaches over the last several years. At Shift in Notion Consulting, Marya Simmons is at the forefront of this movement. She provides training and technical assistance for trauma informed, victim-centered approaches to victim advocacy, sexual assault investigation, and prosecution. Listen along as our guest discusses the beginning of Shift in Notion Consulting, supporting transgender survivors, and resources available to victims during the COVID-19 pandemic in this episode of Just Science.  

This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just Victim Advocacy During A Pandemic_SAAM21_161

In episode four of our Workforce Resiliency mini season, Just Science sat down with Donia Slack, the Director of the Research, Technology, and Evaluation Program in RTI’s Center for Forensic Sciences, to discuss the literature gaps within resiliency and vicarious trauma research.

Discussions on how post-traumatic stress, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout can affect first responders and justice practitioners have increased over the years, but research gaps remain on the level of stress forensic scientists experience. Listen along as Donia Slack discusses the literature on stress, her upcoming doctoral research, and strategies to bolster workforce resiliency for forensic scientists in this episode of Just Science.

This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just Literature On Stress & Resiliency In Forensic Science

In this special release episode, Just Diversity & Inclusion in Forensic Science, Just Science sat down with Donia Slack, the Director of the Research, Technology, and Evaluation Program in RTI’s Center for Forensic Sciences, and Dale Hart, a Research Forensic Scientist in RTI’s Center for Forensic Sciences, to discuss the importance of diversity and inclusion in forensics. 

Forensics is a fast-growing field making the need for racial and gender representation among its practitioners critically important. From confronting biased research to experiencing microaggressions and feelings of “imposter syndrome,” our expert panelists know the realities of being underrepresented in the field. Listen along as they detail their experiences as forensic scientists of color, articulate how bias and underrepresentation can produce flawed findings, and discuss the impact that diversity and inclusion has had in their careers in this episode of Just Science.  

This episode is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just Diversity and Inclusion In Forensic Science

In episode one of our Firearms Research mini season, Just Science sat down with Nicole Jones, the Director of the Forensic Science Translation and Implementation Program in the Center for Forensic Sciences at RTI International, and John Grassel, a Program Manager for RTI’s Center for Forensic Sciences and co-Director of the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence (FTCoE), to discuss toolmark analysis and advanced capabilities in firearms. 

The FTCoE serves as a bridge for the forensic community to support adopting innovative, technological solutions. 3-D imaging technology for firearms and toolmark examination is an example of an emerging technology the FTCoE evaluates. Listen along as these experts discuss the FTCoE’s dissemination efforts on firearm evidence collection and analysis, and their upcoming firearms and toolmark research forum on January 11-14, 2022 in this episode of Just Science. 

This episode of Just Science is funded in part by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence and RTI International’s Applied Justice Research Division.

Just Advanced Capabilities In Firearm And Toolmark Analysis

In episode two of our Firearms Research season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Josh Hendrix, a researcher at RTI International’s Center for Community Safety & Crime Prevention and an expert in school safety and violence prevention, to discuss school safety during an age of mass shootings. 

Dr. Hendrix has performed in-depth analysis on the efficacy of school tip lines, an anonymous means for students and teachers to report suspicious activity. Listen along as he discusses the data surrounding school shootings, as well as strategies to prevent them from occurring in this episode of Just Science.  

This episode of Just Science is funded in part by the National Institute of Justice's Improving the Understanding of Mass Shooting Plots [Awards 2019-R2-CX-0003 and SCON-00000321] and RTI International's Applied Justice Research Division.

Just School Safety Tip Lines

In episode three of our Firearms Research mini season, Just Science sat down with Mark Pope, Director of the Policing Research Program within the Center for Policing Research & Investigative Science, and Dr. John Hollywood, a senior operations researcher at RAND and the Director of the Center for Quality Policing, to discuss mass shooting attacks. 

From Sandy Hook, to Las Vegas, to Parkland, there has been an uptick in deadly mass shootings in the past decade. In their new study, Hollywood and Pope extend their research on terror plots to look at mass attacks more broadly and their effect on the public. Listen along as our expert panel discusses their research, as well as the educational toolkit they created to house their findings in this episode of Just Science.  

This episode of Just Science is funded in part by the National Institute of Justice's Improving the Understanding of Mass Shooting Plots [Awards 2019-R2-CX-0003 and SCON-00000321] and RTI International's Applied Justice Research Division.

Just Mass Shooting Attacks

In this special release episode, Just Science sat down with Dr. Jennifer Rineer, a research psychologist and program manager in RTI International’s Center for Policing Research and Investigative Science, and Maureen McGough, Chief of Staff at the Policing Project at NYU Law and the co-founder of the 30x30 Initiative, to discuss efforts to recruit more women in policing.  

Women are vastly underrepresented in the policing profession, accounting for only 12% of the police officers in the United States. Women police can increase legitimacy and trust within communities, and also improve departmental performance. Listen along as Jennifer and Maureen discuss their research on this issue and the steps organizations are taking to increase women representation in policing in this episode of Just Science.  
  
This episode is funded by the NIJ project titled From Research to Reality: Recruiting More Women into the Policing Profession (Award 2019-R2-CX-0027).

Just Recruiting Women In Policing

In episode one of our Perspectives on At-Home Sexual Assault Kits season, Just Science sat down with Dr. Julie Valentine, a researcher, sexual assault nurse examiner, and the Associate Dean of Brigham Young University’s College of Nursing, to discuss the use of at-home sexual assault kits. As a researcher in sexual assault response reform and a sexual assault nurse examiner, Dr. Valentine is a subject matter expert on collecting evidence in sexual assault cases. Listen along as she discusses her work in sexual assault response reform and her perspective on the role of at-home sexual assault kits in sexual assault cases in this episode of Just Science. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just Supporting Evidence Collection In Sexual Assault Cases

In episode two of our Perspectives on At-Home Sexual Assault Kits season, Just Science sat down with Monica Gardner, an advocate, a former rape crisis center team advocate, and a survivor of sexual abuse as a child and as an adult, to discuss at-home sexual assault kits from a survivor's perspective. Monica Gardner knows firsthand that healing isn't linear -- which is why, as a survivor herself, she made the decision to support and empower others who have experienced sexual violence. Listen along as she candidly shares her struggle with PTSD, the importance of therapy during the healing process, and her nuanced perspective on at-home kits in this episode of Just Science. This season is funded by the National Institute of Justice’s Forensic Technology Center of Excellence.

Just The Intersection Of At-Home Kits And Healing

Just Science is a podcast for justice professionals and anyone interested in learning more about forensic science, innovative technology, current research, and actionable strategies to improve the criminal justice system.  This podcast deals with a range of issues, including leadership in the crime lab, new technologies, sexual assault response, and broader challenges for science and public security. We cover every type of forensic discipline, including DNA, fingerprints, trace evidence, toxicology, controlled substances, crime scene investigation, and much more!

Some seasons of Just Science were developed by RTI International through the Forensic Technology Center of Excellence,  a program of the National Institute of Justice, United States Department of Justice and funded in part through cooperative agreement [2016-MU-BX-K110].

Just Victim Advocacy During A Pandemic_SAAM21_161

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