Priority Action Report

Geological Materials

Chemistry/Instrumental Analysis

Brad Lee

February 23, 2016
Discipline Description

Develop consensus standards and guidelines 

for the collection and analysis of soils and 

other geological materials; create a 

framework for the interpretation and 

reporting of analytical results; establish 

educational and training requirements for 

forensic practitioners; and foster the 

publication and presentation of research 

within the forensic geosciences community.

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Subcommittee Leadership

Position Name Organization Term Email

Chair Vacant N/A N/A N/A

Vice Chair Andrew Bowen U.S. Postal 

Inspection Service

3 years ambowen@uspis.gov

Executive 

Secretary

Kim Mooney US Army Criminal 

Investigation Lab

3 years kim.e.mooney.civ@mail.

mil

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Subcommittee Members

# Name Organization Term Email

1 Bill Schneck Washington State Patrol Crime Lab 4 bill.schneck@wsp.wa.gov

2 Andrew Bowen U.S. Postal Inspection Service 3 ambowen@uspis.gov

3 Kim Mooney US Army Criminal Investigation 

Lab

3 kim.e.mooney.civ@mail.mil

4 Maureen Bottrell Department of Justice, Federal

Bureau of Investigation

2 maureen.bottrell@ic.fbi.gov

5 Jack Hietpas ORISE-FBI 4 jack.hietpas@ic.fbi.gov

6 Brad Lee University of Kentucky 4 brad.lee@uky.edu

7 Skip Palenik Microtrace LLC 2 spalenik@microtracellc.com

8 Marianne Stam California Department of Justice 2 marianne.stam@doj.ca.gov

9 David Szymanski Bentley University 4 dszymanski@bentley.edu

10 Cynthia Zeissler NIST/Dept. of Commerce 3 cynthia.zeissler@nist.gov

11 Martin T. Wells Cornell University 3 martin.t.wells@gmail.com

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Subcommittee Members

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Summary of Standards/Guidelines 

Priority Actions

Priority Working Title of Document

High Standard Guide for the Collection of Soils and Other Geological 

Evidence for Forensic Applications

Medium Standard Terminology for Forensic Analysis of Soils and Other 

Geological Materials

High Standard Guide for the Forensic Analysis of Soil

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Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority 1 Document

Document Title: Standard Guide for the Collection of Soils and Other 

Geological Evidence for Forensic Applications

Scope: This guide is designed as a resource for forensic scientists, law 

enforcement personnel, and other professionals whose job responsibilities 

include the collection and preservation of soil evidence at crime scenes.

Objective/rationale: This guide is intended to serve as a resource for the 

development of individual agency procedures regarding the collection of 

soils and other geological evidence for forensic applications. 

Issues/Concerns: No standard currently exists for this process.

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Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority 1 Document

Key Components of Standard: 

•Collection strategies

•Collection tools

•Collection techniques

•Documentation, preservation, packaging, and transportation 

of samples

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Task Group/Subcommittee Action 

Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated 

Completion Date

Address comments from SAC SDO-200 Andrew Bowen March 2016

Test fit for purpose in 

workshops (MAFS, CAC)

SDO-200 Brad Lee

Marianne Stam

Andrew Bowen

Fall 2016

Evaluate technical merit SDO-200 Marianne Stam

Dave Szymanski

December 2016

Submit to SAC with SDO 

Process Submission Form

SDO-300 Andrew Bowen December 2016

Submit to SDO SDO-700 Andrew Bowen 2017

Priority 1: Standard Guide for the Collection of Soils and 

Other Geological Evidence for Forensic Applications

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Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority 2 Document

Document Title: Standard Terminology for Forensic Analysis of Soils 

and Other Geological Materials

Scope: This guide is intended to standardize the terminology used by the 

forensic community.

Objective/rationale: This document is intended to improve 

communication about geological evidence within and between the relevant 

communities. 

Issues/Concerns: No standard terminology document currently exists 

for this forensic discipline.

Task Group Name: Terminology Task Group

Task Group Chair Name: Kim Mooney

Task Group Chair Contact Information: 

kim.e.mooney.civ@mail.mil

Date of Last Task Group Meeting: January 29, 2016

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Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority 2 Document

Key Components of Standard: 

•Terms

•Definitions

•Sources

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Task Group/Subcommittee Action 

Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated 

Completion Date

Subcommittee Review of 

Draft Document

SDO-100 All July 2016

Coordination with SAC 

Terminology Task Group

SDO-100 Dave Szymanski Ongoing

Revise document and select 

SDO

SDO-200 Kim Mooney August 2016

Priority 2: Standard Terminology for Forensic Analysis of 

Soils and Other Geological Materials

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Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority 3 Document

Document Title: Standard Guide for the Forensic Analysis of Soil

Scope: This guide is designed as a resource for forensic scientists, 

researchers, and other professionals whose job responsibilities include the 

analysis of soil evidence in laboratories.

Objective/rationale: This guide is intended to serve as a resource for the 

development of technical procedures regarding the analysis of soils for 

forensic applications.

Issues/Concerns: No standard currently exists for this process.

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Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority 3 Document

Key Components of Standard: 

•Sample description

•Alternative sample processing methods

•Alternative instrumental methods

•Minimum standards for analytical schemes, methods, and 

interpretation

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Task Group/Subcommittee Action 

Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated 

Completion Date

Evaluation of existing relevant 

documents

SDO-0 Kim Mooney August 2016

Create initial outline SDO-0 All December 2016

Populate relevant sections SDO-0 All 2017

Priority 3: Standard Guide for the Forensic Analysis of Soil

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Summary of Standards/Guidelines 

Priority Actions

Priority Working Title of Document

High Standard Guide for the Collection of Soils and Other Geological 

Evidence for Forensic Applications

Medium Standard Terminology for Forensic Analysis of Soils and Other 

Geological Materials

High Standard Guide for the Forensic Analysis of Soil

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Standards/Guidelines Reviewed For 

Technical Merit

Title Developing 

Organization Status*

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., RA 

100)

Standard Guide for the Collection of 

Soils and Other Geological Evidence for 

Forensic Applications

Geological 

Materials 

Subcommittee

Still Evaluating SDO-200

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Research Gaps Identified

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Is it possible to anticipate scales of compositional 

heterogeneity of surface soils across a particular 

region? 

Investigation into the effects of different variables on 

the relative abundance of soil components after 

transfer. 

Development and evaluation of quantitative methods 

of soil analysis for forensic comparisons.
Additional Items of Interest

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Workshops

Communication with Federal Agencies

Bibliography

Geolocation / Provenance

Education and Outreach

Expanding Areas of Expertise (e.g. Palynology)

Participation in SAC Task Groups

Terminology 

Education and Training

Quality Assurance

Proficiency Testing
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