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This version of NSU News has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of NSU News, visit news.nova.edu.
This version of SharkBytes has been archived as of February 28, 2019. To search through archived articles, visit nova.edu/search. To access the new version of SharkBytes, visit sharkbytes.nova.edu.
Evidence of Evil: Panel on DNA and Crime Investigations Hosted by Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences
The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Math, Science, and Technology will host a panel discussion titled “DNA Evidence: Separating Good from Evil,” at NSU on Apr. 12. The event will take place from 4 – 5:30 p.m. in the Parker Building, room 338.
In the United States, sometimes innocent people are convicted of crimes and guilty people are acquitted. However, DNA evidence has lessened these injustices in recent years. DNA has been used to clear many convicted inmates of crimes they did not actually commit; some suspects have even been cleared posthumously, as they were convicted and executed via the death penalty before the critical DNA evidence was analyzed. Conversely, DNA evidence also has been used to convict guilty parties of crimes they may have committed years ago, before such analysis tools were available.
This interactive panel discussion will examine the use of DNA evidence in crime laboratories, including how DNA is gathered and analyzed and what is done to ensure the results are accurate. Panel members include Jason Gershman, Ph.D., assistant professor and coordinator of mathematics in the college’s Division of Math, Science, and Technology, and George Duncan, Ph.D., criminalist unit manager for the Broward County Sheriff’s Office.
“DNA Evidence” serves as a companion event to the college’s Distinguished Speakers Series talk by Philip G. Zimbardo, professor emeritus of psychology at Stanford University and noted creator of the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment. Zimbardo will speak at NSU on Apr. 15 in the Arena at the Don Taft University Center. These events enrich the college’s investigation of the current year-long academic theme of “Good and Evil.”
For further information about this panel discussion, please contact Jason Gershman, Ph.D., at (954) 262-7927. For more details on the college’s Distinguished Speakers Series event featuring Philip G. Zimbardo, visit www.fcas.nova.edu/articles/dss/philipzimbardo.