National Commission on 

Forensic Science (NCFS) 

and 

Organization of Scientific 

Area Committees (OSAC)

John M. Butler, Ph.D.

National Institute of Standards and Technology

NIST Fellow & Special Assistant to the Director for Forensic Science

Vice-Chair, National Commission on Forensic Science

25th International Symposium on Human Identification

Phoenix, AZ

October 1, 2014
Forensic Science Realignment

• NAS report – Feb 2009

• White House Subcommittee 

on Forensic Science (SoFS) 

– July 2009 to Dec 2012

• DOJ/NIST Partnership

– NCFS (National Commission 

on Forensic Science)

– OSAC (Organization of 

Scientific Area Committees)

• Pending Legislation (Senate)

– Leahy Bill (Justice)

– Rockefeller Bill (Commerce)

• FY14 New NIST Role

– administer “guidance groups” 

 OSAC

Criminal Justice and 

Forensic Science Reform Act 

(Leahy Bill)

Forensic Science 

and Standards Act 

(Rockefeller Bill)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/file

s/microsites/ostp/NSTC/strengthening_the_

forensic_sciences_may_-_2014.pdf

79 pages

Released May 2, 2014
Material Measurement 

Laboratory (MML)

Materials Science & 

Engineering Division (642)

Materials Measurement 

Science Division (643)

Biosystems & Biomaterials 

Division (644)

Biomolecular Measurement 

Division (645)

Physical Measurement 

Laboratory (PML)

Engineering Laboratory 

(EL)

Information Technology 

Laboratory (ITL)

Chemical Sciences Division 

(646)

Applied Chemicals & 

Materials Division (647)

Applied Genetics

Bioprocess 

Measurements

Bioanalytical Science

Chemical Reference 

Data

Macromolecular 

Structure & Function

Laboratory Division Group

Office of Special 

Programs

Formerly Law Enforcement 

Standards Office (OLES)

Associate Director for 

Laboratory Programs (ADLP)

NIST Director

NIST Center for Neutron 

Research (NCNR) 

Center for Nanoscale Science 

& Technology (CNST)

My Move within NIST 

(April 2013)

Office of Reference Materials

Pete Vallone, 

Mike Coble, 

Becky Hill, 

Margaret Kline, 

Katherine Gettings, 

Erica Butts, 

Kevin Kiesler

Mark Stolorow, 

Sue Ballou, 

John Paul Jones, 

Robert Thompson, 

Melissa Taylor, 

Shannan Williams

NIST Forensic Program

John Butler

NIST Operating Units (OUs)
February 3-4, 2014 was the first meeting of the

National Commission on Forensic Science

37 Commissioners + DOJ/NIST Leadership Team 

(with ~100 public attendees)

As a Federal Advisory Committee, the Commission is 

required to hold open public meetings for transparency
Webcast of Second NCFS Meeting

http://www.nist.gov/forensics/national-commission-on-forensic-science-webcast.cfm

Meetings are now webcast 

and archived for future viewing
NCFS Membership

• 31 commissioners and 8 ex-officio members

– Selected from >300 applicants

– Represent diverse backgrounds, extensive experience, 

and come from 21 states

• Professors of biochemistry, chemistry, pathology, physics, 

sociology, statistics, and law (including a Nobel laureate and 

National Medal of Science recipient)

• Crime laboratory directors (including ATF, DEA, & FBI rep)

• Judges, prosecutors, and defense attorneys

• Sheriff, detective, coroner, medical examiner, victims’ 

advocate, defendants’ rights advocate, standards expert
National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS)

Willie E. May

Acting Director of NIST

New NIST Co-Chair

James M. Cole

Deputy Attorney General

DOJ Co-Chair

www.justice.gov/ncfs

Patrick D. Gallagher

NIST Director (2009-2014)

Initial NIST Co-Chair

Left NIST  Chancellor of Pitt

http://www.news.pitt.edu/chancellorelect 
NCFS Members

Commissioner Biographies available at http://www.justice.gov/ncfs/members.html

Willie E. May, Ph.D. 

(Acting Director of NIST)
NCFS Leadership and Staff Support

Nelson A. Santos

Vice-Chair (DOJ)

John M. Butler

Vice-Chair (NIST)

Brette L. Steele

Designated Federal Official

Robin W. Jones

Program Manager
NCFS Co-Chairs and OSTP Director 

address the first Commission meeting

NIST Director 

Pat Gallagher

Deputy Attorney General

James Cole

OSTP Director

John Holdren

NCFS meeting 1 (February 3, 2014) OSTP = White House Office of 

Science and Technology Policy
Informational 

Briefings

• Judge Harry 

Edwards spoke on 

findings from the 

2009 NAS report

• Bureau of Justice 

Statistics researcher 

Matt DuRose

reviewed the 2009 

census of U.S. 

forensic laboratories

NCFS meeting 1 (February 3, 2014) 
White House Subcommittee on Forensic Science 

committee chairs discuss outcome of work 

conducted from 2009 to 2012 

Patricia Manzolillo

U.S. Postal Service 

Forensic Laboratory

Dean Gialamas

LA County Sheriff’s 

Office Crime Lab

Jeff Salyards

Defense Forensic 

Science Center 

Gerry LaPorte

National Institute 

of Justice

Accreditation 

& Certification

Proficiency 

Testing

Research & 

Development

Documentary 

Standards

NCFS meeting 1 (February 3, 2014) 
Mark Stolorow (NIST) introduces the Organization 

of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) plan

For more information, see http://www.nist.gov/forensics/osac.cfm

NCFS meeting 1 (February 4, 2014) 
Commission discussions were led by Vice-Chairs

John Butler (NIST) and Nelson Santos (DOJ)

NCFS meeting 1 (February 4, 2014) 

Discussed issues and developed subcommittee topics
6 Initial NCFS Subcommittees Formed

1. Accreditation and Proficiency Testing

2. Interim Solutions

3. Medico-legal Death Investigation

4. Reporting and Testimony

5. Scientific Inquiry and Research

6. Training on Science and Law

A human factors subcommittee was recommended at the 

second meeting and was initiated during the third meeting

Issues being examined:

(a) Foundational literature

(b) Educational programs

(c) Transition of research

(d) Measuring impact
NCFS Meeting 2 Topics

May 12-13, 2014

• Panel on Cognitive Bias and Human Factors

– Speakers: Deborah Boehm-Davis, John Collins, 

Michael Risinger, David H. Kaye 

• Panel on Ethics in Forensic Science

– Speakers: Jamie Upshaw Downs, Rob Lesnevich

• Subcommittee Reports 

• OSAC Update

– Speakers: Mark Stolorow, Willie May

http://www.nist.gov/forensics/national-commission-on-forensic-science-webcast.cfm
NCFS Meeting Materials Available

http://www.justice.gov/ncfs/meeting-materials.html

Meeting Summary

23 page pdf document

Speaker Slides (pdf files)

Listing of 22 references provided to Commissioners
NCFS Meeting 3 Topics

August 26-27, 2014

• Amended Bylaws Reviewed

– Vote passed on a directive to survey police forensic units

• Panel on Cognitive Bias and Human Factors

– Speakers: Itiel Dror and Bill Thompson 

– Human Factors Subcommittee formed

• Panel on Latent Print Automated Fingerprint Identification 

System (AFIS) Interoperability

– Speakers: Melissa Gische, Austin Hicklin, Lauren Reed, and David Russell 

• UK Regulator Andrew Rennison to share lessons learned from the 

United Kingdom

• Panel on Role of Accreditation in Forensic Science

– Speakers: Beth Mishalanie, Ross Randlett, Roger Klein

• Subcommittee Reports 

http://www.nist.gov/forensics/national-commission-on-forensic-science-webcast-3.cfm
UK Forensic Science Regulator 

Andrew Rennison

NCFS meeting 3 (August 27, 2014) 

• Shared lessons learned from the United 

Kingdom from his experience covering Feb 2008 

to Aug 2014

• Next Forensic Science Regulator will be Dr. 

Gillian Tully (former head of research at the 

Forensic Science Service)
Future NCFS Meeting Dates

Meeting 4: October 28-29, 2014

Meeting 5: January 29-30, 2015

Meeting 6: April 30-May 1, 2015

http://www.justice.gov/ncfs
Organization of Scientific 

Area Committees (OSAC)

Forensic discipline-specific guidance 

groups administered by NIST
OSAC Launch

• February 4, 2014 announcement to NCFS

• The OSAC will be a collaborative body of more than 

600 forensic science practitioners and other 

experts who represent all levels of the government, 

academia and industry. 

• Establishing OSAC to strengthen the nation’s use of 

forensic science by:

– supporting the development and promulgation of forensic 

science consensus documentary standards and guidelines

– determining each forensic discipline’s research and 

measurement standards needs

– ensuring that a sufficient scientific basis exists for each 

discipline 
Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC)

Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB)

Quality Infrastructure 

Committee (QIC)

Legal Resource 

Committee (LRC)

Human Factors 

Committee (HFC)

SAC

Biology/DNA

SAC

Physics/Pattern

SAC 

Chemistry/ 

Instrumental Analysis

SAC

IT/Multimedia

SAC

Crime Scene/ 

Death Investigation

SAC = Scientific Area Committee

Sub = Subcommittee

Imaging Technologies Sub

Firearms & Toolmarks 

Sub 

Questioned Documents 

Sub

DNA Analysis Sub1 Controlled Substances Sub Anthropology Sub Facial Identification Sub

Disaster Victim 

Identification Sub Friction Ridge Sub

Fire Debris and Explosives 

Sub (lab)

Materials (Trace) Sub

Medical/Legal Death 

Investigation Sub

Blood Stain Pattern 

Analysis Sub

Toxicology Sub

Dogs and Sensors Sub

Footwear 

& Tire Tread Sub

Wildlife Forensics Sub

Geological Materials Sub

Speaker Recognition Sub 

Fire Scene and 

Explosives Sub 

DNA Analysis Sub2

Gunshot Residue Sub

Odontology Sub

Digital Evidence Sub 

Bottom portion (subcommittee membership) to be announced by end of October
OSAC Events and Information

www.nist.gov/forensics/osac.cfm

1313 applicants from 

April 11 to May 11

(>150 for DNA)

FSSB announced June 26
Scientific Working 

Group (SWG) Topic (Forensic Discipline) Start Sponsor Website

1 SWGDAM DNA 1988 FBI swgdam.org

2 SWGMAT Materials (Trace) 1992 FBI swgmat.org

3 SWGFAST Friction Ridge (Fingerprints) 1995 FBI swgfast.org

4 SWGDRUG Controlled Substances 1997 DEA swgdrug.org

5 SWGIT Imaging Technologies 1997 FBI OTD swgit.org

6 SWGDOC Document Examination 1997 FBI swgdoc.org

7 SWGDE Digital Evidence 1998 FBI OTD swgde.org

8 SWGGUN Firearms & Toolmarks 1998 FBI swggun.org

9 SWGFEX Fire Debris & Explosives 1998 NIJ swgfex.org

10 SWGSTAIN Bloodstain Pattern 2002 NIJ swgstain.org

11 SWGTREAD Shoeprint & Tire Tread 2004 FBI swgtread.org

12 SWGDOG Dog & Orthogonal Detector 2004 FBI swgdog.fiu.edu

13 SWGGSR Gun Shot Residue 2007 NIJ swggsr.org

14 SWGANTH Anthropology 2008 FBI swganth.org

15 SWGTOX Toxicology 2009 NIJ swgtox.org

16 FISWG Facial Identification 2009 FBI OTD fiswg.org

17 SWGDVI Disaster Victim Identification 2010 FBI swgdvi.org

18 SWGMDI Medicolegal Death Investigation 2010 NIJ/FBI swgmdi.org

19 SWGGEO Geological Materials 2011 USACIL swggeo.org

20 SWGWILD Wildlife Forensics 2011 USFWS wildlifeforensicscience.

org/ swgwild

21 SWGSPEAKER Voice Analysis 2012 FBI swg-speaker.org

NIJ funding of SWGs has stopped; 

SWGDAM and SWGDE will 

continue with FBI funding

Collectively these 

21 SWGs have had 

>750 participants 

and have produced 

>250 documents
http://nist.gov/forensics/osac/index.cfm

George Herrin (GBI)

SAC Biology Chair

FSSB appointed June 26, 2014

QIC, LRC, HFC – July 16 

SAC – Sept 3

Subcommittees – October 

Subcommittee 

membership to be 

announced soon 

(before end of October)

George Herrin

Kim Murga

Robyn Ragsdale

Kathy Moore
Scientific Area Committee 

(SAC) Biology Members 

appointed September 3, 2014

George Herrin, Jr., Ph.D., SAC Chair, 

Georgia Bureau of Investigation-Division of Forensic Sciences

Kimberly Murga, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Chair of the OSAC 

DNA Analysis 1 Subcommittee

Robyn Ragsdale, Ph.D., Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Chair of the 

OSAC DNA Analysis 2 Subcommittee

M. Katherine Moore, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 

National Marine Fisheries Service, Chair of the OSAC Wildlife Subcommittee

John Butler, Ph.D., National Institute of Standards and Technology

Thomas Callaghan, Ph.D., Federal Bureau of Investigation

Robin Cotton, Ph.D., Boston University

Phillip Danielson, Ph.D., University of Denver

Angelo Della Manna, Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences

Deedra Hawk, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Wildlife Forensic and Fish 

Health Laboratory

Antonio Possolo, Ph.D., National Institute of Standards and Technology

Bruce Weir, Ph.D., University of Washington
SWGDAM and OSAC DNA Efforts 

will Co-Exist and Some Individuals Will be Members of Both

“...NIST and the FBI have agreed that SWGDAM will 

remain operationally with the FBI at this time...” 

http://swgdam.org/faq.html
National Commission 

on Forensic Science 

(NCFS)

Attorney General

Forensic Science 

Standards Board 

(FSSB)

Organization of 

Scientific Area 

Committees (OSAC)

Limited Term (FACA) Ongoing (Forensic Science 

Quality Infrastructure)

Policy focused

Recommendations

Practice focused

Department of Justice NIST
Forensic Science 

Standards Board 

(FSSB)

Organization of 

Scientific Area 

Committees (OSAC)

Ongoing (Forensic Science 

Quality Infrastructure)

Outputs Forensic Science 

Code of Practice

OSAC 

Registry of 

Approved 

Standards 

OSAC 

Registry of 

Approved 

Guidelines

Providing Supplemental 

Material for Laboratories 

Audits against ISO 17025, etc.

Accrediting Bodies 

(e.g., ASCLD/LAB)

Practice focused

NIST

Process & 

technical merit

Technical merit
Save the Date for Future Meetings

• Forensics@NIST (Gaithersburg, MD): 

December 3-4, 2014

Will showcase NIST research in DNA, digital 

evidence, ballistics, and statistics 

Will be webcast

• International Symposium on Forensic 

Measurement Issues and Error (Washington, DC): 

July 20-24, 2015 is being planned
www.nist.gov/forensics

National Commission on Forensic Science (NCFS): 

www.justice.gov/ncfs

Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC):

www.nist.gov/forensics/osac/index.cfm

301-975-4049 john.butler@nist.gov