OSAC Update

Mark D. Stolorow

Director for OSAC Affairs

Office of Special Programs

National Institute of Standards and Technology

National Commission on Forensic Science

Washington, DC

May 13, 2014
Current and Proposed 

NIST Forensic Science Research Areas
OSAC Update

• Outreach - Conducted open OSAC forums and 

provided presentations with a dozen stakeholder 

organizations since last NCFS meeting

• Infrastructure - Modified OSAC infrastructure 

based on stakeholder feedback – (next slide)

• Membership - Opened online membership 

application process, April 11 – May 11, 2014

• Response - Received more than 1,300 

membership applications
Understanding the OSAC Levels

•Set policy, rules, priorities for OSAC

•Manage OSAC Registry of Standards

Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB)

•Provide advice across all forensic science and discipline committees

Legal Resource, Quality Infrastructure, Human Factors Committees

•Manage work within a scientific area (harmonize/leverage across related disciplines)

•Develop scientific area standards, (e.g., terminology, reporting requirements, conclusion 

statements)

Scientific Area Committees

•Identify and develop standards & best practices for discipline

Discipline specific Subcommittees (Working Groups)
Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC)

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

Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB)

Wildlife Forensics Sub

Geological Materials Sub

Speaker Recognition Sub 

SAC

Biology/DNA

Quality Infrastructure 

Committee (QIC)

SAC

Physics/Pattern

SAC 

Chemistry/ 

Instrumental Analysis

SAC

IT/Multimedia

SAC

Crime Scene/ 

Death Investigation

Fire Scene and Explosives 

Sub 

Legal Resource 

Committee (LRC)

DNA Analysis Sub2

Human Factors 

Committee (HFC)

Gunshot Residue Sub

Odontology Sub

March 18, 2014

MOVED

NEW

EXPANDED
Alaska

Hawaii

OSAC Applicants 

as of 12 May 2014

357 state govt

331 local govt

234 federal govt

223 private

154 academic

14 FFRDC

56 non-U.S.

Other countries (21 total; 56 individuals)

Australia (10)

Bangladesh (1)

Belarus (1)

Bosnia (1)

Brazil (1)

Canada (17)

China (1)

France (1)

Germany (2)

Israel (2)

Italy (1)

Korea (1)

Malaysia (1)

Nepal (1)

The Netherlands (1)

New Zealand (1)

Peru (1)

Singapore (2)

Switzerland (1)

Taiwan (1)

UK (8)

Puerto Rico

All 50 states 

represented
Academic

Federal

Government

FFRDC

Local Government

Private Sector

State Government

Background of OSAC Applicants 

(as of 12 May 2014)

12 %

Academic

18 %

Federal govt

27 %

State govt

25 %

Local govt

FFRDC = Federally-funded 

research and development center

Employer Classification

1313 total

17 %

Private 

sector
Attorney

Educator/Trainer

Judge

Other

Practitioner

Quality Assurance Manager

R&D Technology Partner

Researcher

Background of OSAC Applicants 

(as of 12 May 2014)

8 %

8 %

2 %

65 %

“practitioner”

Job Classification

# statisticians (ASA) = 25

11 %

“researcher”

4 %

1313 total
Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC)

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

Forensic Science Standards Board (FSSB)

Wildlife Forensics Sub

Geological Materials Sub

Speaker Recognition Sub 

SAC

Biology/DNA

Quality Infrastructure 

Committee (QIC)

SAC

Physics/Pattern

SAC 

Chemistry/ 

Instrumental Analysis

SAC

IT/Multimedia

SAC

Crime Scene/ 

Death Investigation

Fire Scene and Explosives 

Sub 

Legal Resource 

Committee (LRC)

DNA Analysis Sub2

Human Factors 

Committee (HFC)

Gunshot Residue Sub

Odontology Sub

1,313 Applicants and their primary selections as of May 12, 2014

42 86 13

64 65 73 24 48

73

79

17

78

42

8

24

46

58

22

19

21

17

56

29

32

22

30

22

71

58

24

50

10 15 10

15

15 15

15 15

NIST applicant 

primary selection

S

S Statistician (ASA)

S S

S

S

S

S S

S

S

S

S

S

S

S

S

S

S S

S

S

S S S

S
Next Steps - Timeline for 2014

• Appoint FSSB in May

• Appoint LRC, QIC, HFC membership and SAC 

leadership in June

• First SAC meetings to select Subcommittee 

leadership in August 

• Conduct OSAC training virtually via webinar in 

Sept/Oct

• Hold in-person meeting between midNovember and January

11
www.nist.gov/forensics/osac.cfm