Priority Action Report

Materials (Trace)

Chemistry/Instrumental Analysis

Susan Gross, Chair

February 14, 2017
2

Materials (Trace)

The subcommittee on Materials 

(Trace) will focus on standards 

and guidelines related to 

examination and interpretation 

of physical evidence that may 

result from the transfer of small 

or minute quantities of materials 

(e.g., hairs, fibers, paint, tape, 

glass). 
Subcommittee Leadership

3

Position Name Organization Term Email

Chair Susan Gross Minnesota BCA 3 sue.t.gross@state.mn.us

Vice Chair Diana Wright FBI Laboratory 4 diana.wright@ic.fbi.gov

Executive 

Secretary

Cheryl Lozen Michigan State 

Police

2(3) lozenc@michigan.gov
Subcommittee Members

4

# Name Organization Term Email

1 Jodi Blakely Webb FBI Laboratory 4 jodi.webb@ic.fbi.gov

2 David A. Green Lake County (Ohio) Crime Lab 3 david.green@lakecountyohio.gov

3 Andria Hobbs Mehltretter FBI Laboratory 4 andria.mehltretter@ic.fbi.gov

4 Tammy Jergovich Georgia Bureau of Investigation 2 (3) tammy.jergovich@gbi.ga.gov

5 Sandy Koch Penn State University 3 slk336.psu.edu

6 Christopher S. Palenik Microtrace LLC (Illinois) 4 cpalenik@microtracellc.com

7 Sandy Parent TX Dept of Public Safety Crime Lab 3 sandy.parent@dps.texas.gov

8 Chip Pollock Sacramento County (California) District 

Attorney’s Office Laboratory

3 pollockc@sacda.org

9 Jennifer L. Remy North Carolina State Crime Laboratory 3 jremy@ncdoj.gov

10 Chantelle Taylor Arkansas State Crime Laboratory 2 (3) chantelle.taylor@crimelab.arkansas.gov

11 Tatiana Trejos Florida International University 4 trejost@fiu.edu

12 Robyn Weimer Virginia Dept of Forensic Science 3 robyn.weimer@dfs.va.gov
Subcommittee Members continued

5

# Name Organization Term Email

13 Kathy Boone Indiana State Police Laboratory 2 kboone@isp.in.gov

14 Lara Mosenthin Kentucky State Police 2 lara.mosenthin@ky.gov

15 Amanda Forster National Institute of Standards and 

Technology

4(2) amanda.forster@nist.gov

16 Randall Nelson Tennessee Bureau of Investigation 

Crime Laboratory

3 randall.nelson@tn.gov

17 John Reffner John Jay College, CUNY 3 jreffner@jjay.cuny.edu

18 Candie Shegogue FBI Laboratory 3(1) candie.shegogue@ic.fbi.gov

19 Cedric Neumann South Dakota State University 3 cedric.neumann@sdstate.edu

20 David Northrop Washington State Patrol Crime Laboratory 3 david.northrop@wsp.wa.gov

21 Celeste Grover Oregon State Police –Forensic Sciences 

Division

3 celeste.grover@state.or.us 

22 Jerome Workman Unity Scientific, MA and National University, 

CA USA

4 JWorkman@unityscientific.com 
Materials (Trace) Subcommittee
7

Subcommittee Liaisons

Position Name

QIC Liaison David Green

HFC Liaison Andria Mehltretter

LRC Liaison John Reffner

KAVI Liaison Chantelle Taylor
8

Task Group Chairs

Task Group Name

Interpretations Andria Mehltretter

Outreach and Strategic Plan Sandy Parent

Fibers Jen Remy

Glass Jodi Webb

Hairs Sandy Koch

Paint Diana Wright

Tape Tammy Jergovich

Research Tatiana Trejos

Terminology Amanda Forster
Affiliates

# Name Organization

1 Mark Ahonen Indiana State Police

2 Jason Beckert MicroTrace

3 Richard Bisbing Retired (McCrone)

4 Julie Bitter NIST

5 Maureen Bottrell FBI

6 Andrew Bowen US Postal Inspection Service

7 Muriel Correa Oklahoma State B of I

8 Jeff Dake Defense Forensic Science Center

9 Gavin Edmonstone Centre of Forensic Sciences

10 Mary Eng NY City Police Department

11 David Flohr Defense Forensic Science Center

12 Josh Friedman FBI

13 Dana Greely Hamilton Cty Coroners Office

14 Katie Igowsky MN BCA

15 Alan Kainuma Honolulu Police Department

16 Doug Klapec ATF

9

# Name Organization

17 Daniel Mabel Cuyahoga Cty Medical 

Examiners Office

18 Jennifer Malone Wyoming State Lab

19 Paul Martin CRAIC Technologies

20 Mike Martinez Bexar Cty Criminal 

Investigation Laboratory

21 Michelle Mercer Monroe Cty Crime Lab

22 Amy Michaud ATF

23 Cyril Muehlethaler University of Quebec

24 Christine Pinto Los Angeles County Sheriff’s 

Department

25 Will Randle Missouri State Hiway Patrol

26 Mark Sandercock Royal Canadian Mounted 

Police

27 William Schneck Washington State Patrol

28 Stephen Stone Washington State Patrol

29 Mike Trimpe Hamilton Cty Coroner’s Office

30 Peter Weis Federal Criminal Police Office, 

Germany
Summary of Priority Projects

Priority Working Title of Document

High Standard Practice for Interpretation and Report Writing in Forensic Comparisons of 

Trace Materials

High OUTREACH Strategic Plan for Materials (Trace) 

High PCAST Response regarding Hair Examinations

High E2330 Standard Test Method ICP-MS for glass

E2926 Standard Test Method XRF for glass

E2927 Standard Test Method LA-ICP-MS for glass

E1967 Standard Test Method for the Automated Determination of RI of Glass Samples

E3085 Standard Guide for using Infrared Spectroscopy in Tape Examinations

E1610 Standard Guide for Forensic Paint Analysis and Comparison

E2937 Standard Guide for using Infrared Spectroscopy in Forensic Paint Examinations

Standard Practice for Forensic Human Hair Examination Training

E2228 Standard Guide for Microscopic Examination of Textile Fibers

E2224 Standard Guide for Forensic Analysis of Fibers by IR Spectroscopy

E2225 Standard Guide for Forensic Examination of Fabrics and Cordage

Tape training document

E2808 Standard Guideline for using MSP for forensic paint examinations

E2809 Standard Guideline for Using SEM/EDS in Forensic Paint Examinations

Forensic Human Hair Examination Guidelines

Paint training document

Tape general guide

10
Topic 1: Trace Evidence Interpretation 

Document

Task Group Name: Trace Evidence Interpretation

Task Group Chair Name: Andria Mehltretter

Task Group Chair Contact Information: 

andria.mehltretter@ic.fbi.gov

Date of Last Task Group Meeting: February 2, 2017

11

Document Title: Standard Practice for Interpretation and Report Writing in 

Forensic Comparisons of Trace Materials

Scope: Document describes the information that must be included in trace 

evidence written reports for interpretation of the overall results of 

comparative examinations.

Objective/rationale: to provide recommendations and requirements to the 

trace evidence community regarding how to interpret and describe the 

significance of the overall results of a comparative examination. 
Task Group/Subcommittee Action Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

Send out entire document to 

subcommittee, SAC and RC 

for comment

Andria 

Mehltretter/ 

Cheryl Lozen

March 7, 2017

Task group discuss comments 

and edit document

Entire task group April 18 – 21, 

2017

Send document out for vote 

in subcommittee to go to 

ASTM

Andria 

Mehltretter / 

Cheryl Lozen

May 15, 2017

Send document out to vote in 

SAC to go to ASTM

Susan Gross / 

Cheryl Lozen

July 2, 2017

Send document to ASTM

Priority 1: Interpretation Document

12
13

• Identify the perception, reality and needs of the Trace Evidence (TE) 

community, which will determine our strategic planning goals. 

• Determine opportunities to promote TE by communicating its significance 

to ensure preservation of the field and ultimately move TE forward.

• Create educational material to be distributed to various levels of the 

community (e.g., crime scene analysts, law enforcement agencies, labs 

(without trace), court systems, etc.).

Task Group Name: Trace Outreach 

Task Group Chair Name: Sandy Parent

Task Group Chair Contact Information: 

sandy.parent@dps.texas.gov

Date of last Task Group Meeting: Email discussions

Topic 2: Trace Evidence Strategic Plan 

and Outreach Initiative
Task Group/Subcommittee Action Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

Finish revision of Crime Scene 

Field Guide and send to 

subcommittee for review

Sandy Parent February 2017

Publish guide and make 

available to Crime Scene 

Personnel

Priority 2: Outreach task group

- Primary focus is to create educational material regarding trace evidence from 

the crime scene to the court room and continuously promote trace evidence. 

14
Task Group/Subcommittee Action Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

Review Attorney Survey Robyn Weimer April 1, 2017

Determine which survey 

results should be included in 

strategic plan

Entire task group April 18 – 21, 

2017

Write strategic plan for Trace All December 2017

Priority 2: Strategic Plan task group

- Identify the perception, reality and needs of the community which will 

determine our strategic planning goals, which will be highlighted in our Strategic 

Action Plan. This task group will continue to identify opportunities to enhance 

TE by communicating the significance of what we do to ensure the preservation 

of our field and ultimately move TE forward. 

15
Topic 3: Fiber Documents

16

Document Titles:

E2224 Standard Guide for Forensic Analysis of Fibers by IR 

E2225 Standard Guide for Analysis of Fabrics/Cordage

E2228 Standard Guide for Micro Exam of Textile Fibers

Fiber training

Scope: Standard guides for different fiber techniques

Task Group Name: Fibers

Task Group Chair Name: Jen Remy

Task Group Chair Contact Information: jremy@ncdoj.gov

Date of last Task Group Meeting: February 10, 2017
Task Group/Subcommittee Action Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

E2224 (IR of fibers) - being revised

with comments received from public 

comments of E2937 Paint IR and ASTM 

comments for Tape IR.

Lara Mosenthein January 31, 2017

E2228 (Micro exams of textiles)

- Sent to ASTM

Jen Remy Balloting at ASTM

E2225 (fabrics/cordage)

- Passed subcommittee with 

comments. Revise and revote 

prior to ASTM.

Jen Remy (In-person meeting 

April 2017)

Fiber training guide SDO-300 Jen Remy

Priority 3: Fiber Documents

17
18

Document Titles: Hair training document

Human hair examination document

Scope: Provide standard for training in human hair comparisons as well as 

a guideline for the examination of human hair comparisons

Topic 4: Hair Documents

Task Group Name: Hair

Task Group Chair Name: Sandy Koch

Task Group Chair Contact Information: slk336.psu.edu

Date of last task group meeting: February 1, 2017
Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

PCAST Response to additional 

literature written and posted

December 14, 2016

Hair training document sent to 

ASTM

SDO -700 Jen Remy Ballot closed Jan 16

Hair examination document 

out for comment to Sub, SAC, 

RC

SDO-300 Sandy Koch Comments due Feb 1

Edit Hair examination 

document

Entire task group In-person meeting 

(April 2017)

19

Topic 4: Hair Documents

Task Group/Subcommittee Action Plan
20

Task Group Name: Glass

Task Group Chair Name: Jodi Webb

Task Group Chair Contact Information: 

jodi.webb@ic.fbi.gov

Date of Last Task Group Meeting: Meeting via email

Document Title: E1967 Standard Method for RI

E2927 Standard Method for LA-ICP-MS of glass

E2330 Standard Method for ICP-MS of glass 

E2926 Standard Method for XRF of glass

Scope: Standard test methods for different types of glass analysis

Issues/Concerns: Updated document with comments from subcommittee, 

SAC, RC, FSSB and NIST

Topic 5: Glass Documents
Task Group/Subcommittee Action Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

E1967 submitted to ASTM RA-375 Tatiana Trejos Editing after 

ASTM comments

E2927

Passed ASTM. Subcommittee/ 

SAC vote for OSAC Registry 

RA-375 Jose Almirall March 2017

E2330 at ASTM with edits RA-1600 Randall Nelson Ballot closed Jan 16

E2926

Passed ASTM. Subcommittee 

/SAC vote for OSAC Registry 

RA-1600 Tatiana Trejos March 2017

Glass training guide being 

written SDO-300 Jodi Webb

Priority 5: Glass Documents

21
22

Topic 6: Paint and Tape Documents (1)

Document Title: 

E1610 Standard Guide for Forensic Paint Analysis and Comparison

E2937 Standard Guide for Using IR in Forensic Paint Examinations

E2809 Standard Guide for SEM for Forensic Paint Analysis

E2808 Standard Guide for MSP for Forensic Paint Analysis

Standard Guide for IR for Forensic Tape Analysis

Scope: Standard guides for different paint and tape techniques

Task Group Name: Paint/Tape

Task Group Chair Name: Diana Wright

Task Group Chair Contact Information: 

diana.wright@ic.fbi.gov

Date of last task group meeting: January 24, 2017
Task Group/Subcommittee Action Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., SDO 

100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

Send E1610 to ASTM after SAC 

vote Diana Wright January 31, 2017

Send E2937 to ASTM after SAC 

vote Diana Wright January 31, 2017

E3085 IR of Tape. 

Passed ASTM. Subcommittee/SAC 

vote for OSAC Registry 

SDO 700 Diana Wright March 2017

E2809 SEM of Paint –

subcommittee revising Diana Wright In-person meeting (April 2017)

E2808 (MSP of paint) – task group 

editing Robyn Weimer In-person meeting 

(April 2017)

Priority : Paint and Tape Documents

23
24

Topic 6: Paint and Tape Documents (2)

Document Title: (SDO-09) Standard guide for tape training

Standard guide for paint training

Standard guide for forensic tape analysis 

Scope: Standard practice for training in paint and tape

Standard guide for forensic tape analysis

Task Group Name: Paint/Tape (2)

Task Group Chair Name: Tammy Jergovich

Task Group Chair Contact Information: 

tammy.jergovich@gbi.ga.gov

Date of last task group meeting: February 1, 2017
Task Group/Subcommittee Action Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

Submit tape training 

document to SAC for ASTM 

approval

Chantelle Taylor/ 

Susan Gross February 15, 2017

Paint training document out 

for comment to 

subcommittee, SAC, RC

Tammy Jergovich / 

Cheryl Lozen February 28, 2017

Submit Tape Training 

document to ASTM

TBD

March 1, 2017

Write tape general guide 

document

Tammy Jergovich In-person meeting 

(April 2017)

Priority : Paint and Tape Documents

25
Research & Development Needs Identified

• Development of an Integrated and Multidisciplinary Approach for the 

Advancement of Data Collection, Data Management and Data 

Analysis to Aid Interpretation of Trace Evidence

• Evidence of Combined Information Value of Microscopic 

Comparisons and Mitochondrial DNA Analysis for Hair Examinations

• https://www.nist.gov/topics/forensic-science/osac-research-development-needs

• Research Task group will be reconvening in 2017 to identify more 

research needs

26
Additional Items of Interest

• MATERIALS webpage 

https://www.nist.gov/topics/forensic-science/materials-trace-subcommittee

• Baseline documents

https://www.nist.gov/topics/forensic-science/materials-trace-subcommittee

• PCAST Response

https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2016/12/16/osac_materials_subcommittees_resp

onse_to_the_presidents_council_of_advisors_on_science_and_technologys_pcast_request_for_ad

ditional_references_-_submitted_december_14_2016.pdf

• New Task Group – Terminology

• Members/Affiliates - We will be replacing some 3 year term members next Fall. We are 

also adding affiliates when needed. If interested, keep application current within OSAC for ease 

of our reference.

27
Priority Action Report

Materials (Trace)

Chemistry/Instrumental Analysis

Susan Gross, Chair

February 14, 2017