Priority Action Report

Wildlife Forensics Subcommittee

Biology/DNA

Kimberly Frazier

February 13, 2017
Subcommittee Leadership

Position Name Organization Term Email

Chair Kimberly Frazier, 

M.S

Wyoming Game 

and Fish Dept.

4 Kim.frazier@wyo.gov

Vice Chair Jason Byrd, Ph.D University of 

Florida / Maples 

Center for 

Forensic Medicine

3 jhbyrd@ufl.edu

Executive 

Secretary

Mary BurnhamCurtis, Ph.DNational Fish & 

Wildlife Service

3 Mary_curtis@fws.gov

2
Subcommittee Members

# Name Organization Term Email

1 Brandt Cassidy, Ph.D DNA Solutions 3 bgcassidy@cox.net

2 David Foran, Ph.D Michigan State University 3 foran@msu.com

3 Trey Knott, M.S NOAA-Northwest Fisheries Science 

Center Forensic Laboratory

3 trey.knott@noaa.gov

4 M. Kathy Moore, Ph.D NOAA-Northwest Fisheries Science 

Center Forensic Laboratory

3 kathy.moore@noaa.gov

5 Tasha Bauman, M.S Wyoming Game and Fish Dept.-Wildlife 

Forensic Laboratory

4 tasha.bauman@wyo.gov

6 Jenny Giles, Ph.D Stanford University-Department of 

Biology

4 jlgiles@stanford.edu

7 Seth Faith, Ph.D Dept. of Molecular Biomedical Sciences 

& The Forensic Science Institute, NC 

State University

3 safaith@ncsu.edu

8 Christina Lindquist, M.S UC Davis, Veterinary Genetics 

Laboratory, Forensic Unit

3 cdlindquist@ucdavis.edu

9 R. Christopher O’Brien, Ph.D University of New Haven 4 rcobrien@newhaven.edu

10 Michael Stockdale Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency 3 mike.stockdale2009@gmail.com
Affiliates

# Name Organization Term Email

1 Erin Meredith CA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Erin.meredith@wildlife.ca.gov

2 Kim Scribner Michigan State University scribne3@msu.edu

3 SilvanaTridico Murdoch University silvanatridico@yahoo.com

4 Brian Hamlin National Fish and Wildlife Service Brian_hamlin@fws.gov

5 Pepper Trail National Fish and Wildlife Service Pepper_trail@fws.gov

6 Dr. Tabitha Viner National Fish and Wildlife Service Tabitha.viner@fws.gov

7 Piper Schwenke NOAA Fisheries Piper.schwenke@noaa.gov

8 Rob Ogden TRACE Wildlife Forensic Network Rob.ogden@tracenetwork.org

9 Robert Grahn University of California ragrahn@ucdavis.edu

10 Susan Underkoffler University of Florida/ Maples Center for 

Forensic Medicine

sunderkoffler@ufl.edu

11 Cindy Harper University of Pretoria Cindy.harper@up.ac.za

12 Samuel Wasser University of Washington wassers@uw.edu

13 Matthew Birck US Dept. of Homeland Security Matthew.birck@cbp.dhs.gov

14 John Planz, Ph.D UNT Health Science Center,, UNT Center 

for Human Identification

john.planz@unthsc.edu

4
Discipline Description

The Wildlife Forensics Subcommittee 

focuses on standards and guidelines 

related to taxonomic identification, 

individualization, and geographic 

origin of non-human biological 

evidence based on morphological 

and genetic analyses.

5
Summary of Priority Projects

Priority OSAC 

Process Working Title of Document

1 SDO Wildlife Forensics DNA Standards

2 SDO Wildlife Forensics Validation Standards- STR Analysis

3 SDO Wildlife Forensics Validation Standards –Sequencing

4 SDO Wildlife Forensics Methods- Sampling of Reference Samples

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Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority Document #1 

Document Title: Wildlife Forensics DNA Standards

Scope: These standards refer to general considerations in the application of 

genetic techniques in analyzing wildlife forensic evidence. They also cover 

specific wildlife DNA analyses currently widely employed, such as DNA 

sequencing for the identification of class characters, and DNA fragment 

analysis of short tandem repeats (STRs) for establishing individual identity.

Objective/rationale: This document covers good laboratory practices, evidence 

handling, and training which are central to all forensic laboratories. 

Furthermore, these standards also address considerations of phylogeny, 

taxonomy, and reference collections that are specific to wildlife forensic science. 

Task Group Name: DNA Standards

Task Group Chair Name: Tasha Bauman

Task Group Chair Contact Information: 

tasha.bauman@wyo.gov

Date of Last Task Group Meeting: Jan. 2017

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Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority Document #1

Key Components of Standard: 

• Laboratory (cleaning, decontamination, separation of pre and post PCR)

• DNA extraction

• Amplification

• Analysis and interpretation

• Statistics

• Taxonomic identification

• Mitochondrial haplotyping

• Quality controls

• Population assignment

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Task Group/Subcommittee Action 

Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

Finalize sections 3-General 

DNA Standard, 4-Sequencing 

Analysis and 5- STR Analysis

SDO100 Task Group February 2017

Adjudicate comments from 

the RCs

SDO200 Tasha Bauman February 2017

Pull terminology from the 

bio-terms glossary

SDO100 Mary BurnhamCurtisMarch 2017

Finalize DNA Standards & 

Guidelines with the SC

SDO100 Wildlife 

Subcommittee

April 2017

Priority 1: Wildlife Forensics DNA Standards 

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Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority Document #2

Document Title: Wildlife Forensics Validation Standards- STR Analysis

Scope: This document provides minimum standards and 

recommendations for validating new STR (Short tandem repeat, nuclear 

DNA) markers for use in wildlife forensic DNA laboratories where the STR 

genotyping method has already been validated.

Objective/rationale: Wildlife forensic labs do not have a specific kit for 

use in STR analysis. We feel it is imperative to have a standard guiding 

the implementation of new markers in any panel set.

Task Group Name: Validation- STR Analysis

Task Group Chair Name: Christina Lindquist and Brandt 

Cassidy

Task Group Chair Contact Information: 

cdlindquist@ucdavis.edu

Date of Last Task Group Meeting: January 2017

10
Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority Document #2

Key Components of Standard: 

• Characterization of genetic markers

• Species specificity

• Sensitivity and stochastic studies

• Precision and accuracy

• Population studies

• Mixture studies

• PCR based studies 

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Task Group/Subcommittee Action 

Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

Finalize document to send to 

RC and SAC

SDO100 Task Group March 2017

Priority 2: Wildlife Forensics Validation Standards- STR Analysis

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Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority Document #3

Document Title: Wildlife Forensics Validation Standards-Sequencing

Scope: This document provides minimum standards and 

recommendations for validating new sequencing primers for taxonomic 

identification and mitochondrial haplotyping in wildlife forensic DNA 

laboratories where the sequencing (Sanger) method has already been 

validated. 

Objective/rationale: The field of Wildlife Forensics encompasses 

numerous species. Proper taxonomic identification and haplotyping may 

at times require new primers. This standard offers guidance on the 

implementation of these primers.

Task Group Name: Validation Standards- Sequencing

Task Group Chair Name: Christina Lindquist* and Brandt 

Cassidy

Task Group Chair Contact Information: 

cdlindquist@ucdavis.edu

Date of Last Task Group Meeting: January 2017

13
Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority Document #3

Key Components of Standard: 

• Characterization of genetic regions

• Species specificity

• Sensitivity studies

• Precision and accuracy of the assay

• Population Studies

• PCR based studies

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Task Group/Subcommittee Action 

Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

Finalize document to send to 

RC and SAC

SDO100 Task Group March 2017

Priority 3: Wildlife Forensics Validation Standards-Sequencing

15
Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority Document #4

Document Title: Wildlife Forensics Methods- Sampling of Reference 

Samples

Scope: This document will provide a standard method for collecting a 

case reference sample, database samples and voucher samples from 

various non-human organisms

Objective/rationale: Collecting samples from species other than human 

can prove challenging. A standard method will alleviate some of these 

challenges

Issues/Concerns: Writing a standard method that will encompass all the 

species wildlife forensic labs encounter and different sampling procedures

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Standards/Guidelines Development

Priority Document #4

Key Components of Standard: 

• Sampling methods for database samples for statistical use

• Sampling methods to collect individual samples for comparison

• Sampling methods for voucher specimens

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Task Group/Subcommittee Action 

Plan

Planned Actions

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., 

SDO 100) 

Assignee Estimated

Completion Date

Assign task group SDO100 Kathy Moore March 2017

Priority 4: Wildlife Forensics Methods- Sampling of Reference Samples

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Summary of Standards/Guidelines 

Priority Actions

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Priority OSAC 

Process Working Title of Document

1 SDO Wildlife Forensic DNA Standards

2 SDO Wildlife Forensic Validation Standards- STR Analysis

3 SDO Wildlife Forensic Validation Standards –Sequencing

4 SDO Wildlife Forensic Methods- Sampling of Reference Samples
Standards/Guidelines Reviewed For 

Technical Merit

Title Developing 

Organization Status*

OSAC Process 

Stage (e.g., RA 

100)

Wildlife Forensic- General Standard WF

Subcommittee

SDO300 RA-0

Wildlife Forensic-Report Writing Standard WF

Subcommittee

SDO300 RA-0

Wildlife Forensic- Morphology Standard WF

Subcommittee

SDO300 RA-0

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Research & Development Needs Identified

• Species specific STR panels and allelic ladders

Currently have several labs working on compiling markers for 

deer species

Grad student prepared to take on task of developing allelic 

ladders 

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THANK YOU !!

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