A summer ‘camp’ for tomorrow’s sleuths

When she sits down to watch her favorite crime dramas with her dad, 16-year-old Carolyn Reese is right where she likes to be - and can see right where she wants to go: She dreams of working in one of those labs, using science and smarts to turn wisps of evidence into justice and truth.

Thanks to the University of Delaware, she and 24 other budding crime solvers were given an early start on that dream.

The microscopic sleuthing techniques made famous by such TV dramas as CSI and Bones have been nudged into practical reality for Reese and 24 fellow high school students who recently completed the Forensic Science Pre-College Summer Program, jointly offered for the first time this year by UD's Department of Medical and Molecular Sciences (MMSC) and the Division of Professional and Continuing Studies (UD PCS).

Over the course of a week inside MMSC's high-tech labs, the students received a crash course in modern methods of fingerprinting, blood typing and other chemistry-driven evidence analysis - all under the guidance of UD faculty and real-world forensic experts. They visited Delaware State Police crime labs, solved their own classroom whodunit using blood and DNA, and even toured the state Division of Forensic Science's Medical Examiner Unit, a place that few outsiders enter (or leave) voluntarily.

"I've always been really interested in science, and I started to watch these shows with my dad," said Reese, who attends Sussex Academy. "It made me realize this was exactly the part of science I was most interested in and exactly what I wanted to do - going out into the field and collecting the evidence and documenting crime scenes and stuff."

Your average teen might have been less than enthusiastic about sitting in class during summer break, but these self-professed CSI addicts were inspired from the start. Even before the program began, word of its approach quickly spread on social media and high school networks, fueling a quick sellout.

By the end of the week, the teens would be even more enthralled, but they had also discovered fresh potential: Their TV-enhanced career goals now seem within closer reach, and UD is a great place to make them real. Several said they are recommitting themselves to a career in forensics, and at least one will be heading to UD after graduation, ready to pursue his criminal justice degree.

"I didn't really know what I was going to do for college," said Nicholas Riggi, an 18-year-old from Harrington, Delaware, who attended Lake Forest High School. "I always knew that I liked mysteries and stuff. Then, I heard about this program. I wanted to get insight into what it would be like, and I definitely liked what I saw."

Riggi and his classmates benefitted from access to state-of-the-art techniques and R1 university (very high research activity) lab equipment. For five fast-paced days, they soaked in lectures, conducted lab work and scrambled to finish their capstone projects in time. Some of the students were so excited to attend that they enlisted family members to drive them up to two hours each way every day just to attend.

And yes, there would be a good dose of summertime homework to do as well.

They had barely begun their second day when they were challenged to analyze simulated narcotics samples by the state's chief forensic toxicologist, Jessica Smith, a UD graduate, instructor in MMSC's forensic science minor and one-time teenage crime show fan herself. She emphasized the importance of a strict chain of custody and reminded them of the life-altering stakes: True justice frequently depends on a crime lab's precision and the scientist's relentless attention to detail.