Michigan State University's Forensic Science Program leads the country in a discipline that both enthralls TV viewers and is transforming the nature of crime fighting.
MSU's three-pronged distinction:
MSU's forensic science program is the broadest – a complex and multidisciplinary program which employs anthropology, chemistry, biology, entomology, as well as social science theory and law, to help solve crimes and serve justice.
"MSU's forensic science program is distinctive because it has been explicitly built interdisciplinary right from the foundation," said Ed McGarrell, director of the School of Criminal Justice. "Not only has this been maintained and strengthened, building on the interdisciplinary principles that are characteristic of MSU, but it also puts the program in a real leadership position."
Much of the forensic science faculty and student work is done in laboratory. But they also scrutinize the dead for their secrets; they cherish maggots and blow flies for the tales they can tell in the wake of a crime. They're learning how to better find the little bits a criminal can leave of themselves in the most unlikely of places – like on the shrapnel of a detonated bomb or under the fingernails of a corpse.
"The kinds of issues that social science and criminal justice have always addressed – balancing personal liberty and community safety – come together in terms of levels of proof that are provided with science-based evidence," McGarrell said. "It's a good blending of law and public policy and the natural sciences that come together in a very unique way."
© 2007 Michigan State University Board of Trustees. East Lansing, MI 48824.
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