Course Catalog

This 2-hour online class focuses on recognizing reloaded ammunition, an essential part of firearms examination, evaluation, and comparison that is often overlooked in the training plans and technical procedures in many laboratories. The course includes a brief look into the history of reloading, commonly encountered reloading marks, and the interpretation of potential reloading marks, should they be encountered in casework. In addition, report writing examples will be explored and toolmarks at each stage in a reloading process will be examined. Objectives: To recognize and interpret the meaning of potential reloading marks observed on ammunition

Nancy McCombs

Have you ever struggled to get your camera to capture a scene exactly as it appears in real life? Forensic photography demands absolute accuracy, but fighting with complex settings under pressure is the last thing you want to worry about. This 2-hour course is designed to take the guesswork out of forensic photography. You will learn how to command your equipment to capture precise, accurate images that stand up in court and also save you valuable time on exhaustive written notes. This course will break down the essential theory behind exposure, focus, and lighting so you can make deliberate, purposeful choices. If manual mode feels overwhelming, this course will also show you how to efficiently leverage your camera's automation, allowing you to spend less time fighting your gear and more time accurately documenting the evidence. This course will improve your record shots of evidence, serial number restoration photos, photomicrographs of critical comparisons, and other important documentation that supports your examination.

Joseph Vandenburgh

The interaction between a fired bullet and the target surface can cause specific types of deformation, which when recognized, may provide valuable information regarding the details of a crime. This 2-hour class will teach students how to recognize and evaluate that damage, as well as how to document it to support any current or future reconstruction efforts.

Toniann Rebick

What is the science behind silencers? This 2-hour class will discuss the physics principles behind sound and the reduction of it through the use of various types of silencers, including those that are homemade. We will discuss the history of silencers, legal issues regarding silencers, and ways to document and evaluate silencers in casework.

Toniann Rebick

This 2-hour course offers a comprehensive overview of the origins of firearms and the evolution of forensic identification techniques. It examines historical development from the invention of gunpowder to modern weapons, analyzing their technological and social impact. Additionally, it introduces the fundamentals of forensic ballistics, including internal, external, and terminal ballistics. The course delves into the principles of firearm identification by studying the unique marks left on projectiles and casings, using comparative microscopy and accepted scientific methods. Identification criteria, limitations, sources of error, and laboratory quality standards will be discussed. Furthermore, practical exercises and real-case analyses are integrated, allowing students to apply theoretical knowledge in investigative contexts.

Hery Figueroa

This 2-hour session trains forensic experts, firearm examiners, and investigators in using a hybrid documentary research methodology applied directly to forensic investigations. The course serves as a practical aid for verifying a firearm's authenticity, provenance, country of origin, and classification as a military or civilian weapon. Participants will learn how to symbiotically combine traditional archival cataloging methods—specifically, proof marks, fabricator marks, and historical literature—with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced internet search methods. Attendees will learn to utilize AI to streamline patent discovery, track manufacturing marks, and analyze case data, while immediately applying traditional written sources as a critical analog filter to validate findings and eliminate hallucinations. The objective is to provide a dual-protocol approach that accelerates forensic investigations and the preparation of technical expert reports, ensuring methodological rigor and technical integrity.

Hery Figueroa

This one-day (8 hour) course will provide participants with an in-depth exploration of various firearms machining methods and subclass characteristics. Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of the techniques used to manufacture firearm components, such as milling, turning, and broaching, and how these methods relate to subclass and individual characteristics. Through detailed discussions and 3D animation, the workshop aims to boost participants' confidence in both understanding and effectively explaining the intricacies of machining, learn how to evaluate for subclass characteristics in everyday casework, discuss areas of confusion/myths of what subclass characteristics are and are not, and much more.

Omar Felix

This three-day (24 hour) workshop explores the historical development and evolution of  “Subclass Characteristics” and critically examines the use and definition of the term. A wide variety of firearm and tool manufacturing processes commonly encountered in the industry will be evaluated for subclass potential. Methods of recognizing potential subclass characteristics on tooled surfaces will be examined. Lab practices, interpretation, and legal challenges will be discussed. Emphasis will be on recognizing or eliminating the potential of subclass involvement, developing strategies to ensure identifications are not subclass in nature, and exploring documentation and report writing methods when subclass influence is suspected. This class combines lecture with heavy emphasis on laboratory/microscopic time, focusing on the examination of toolmarks made from numerous consecutively manufactured tools.

Nancy McCombs

This 5-Day class introduces the participants to forensic toolmark examination, which is also the basis for firearm identification and comparison.  The basis of toolmark comparison is the determination of whether or not a particular tool was used to make a questioned mark. Students will gain specific knowledge related to examining toolmarks, producing exemplar marks, and comparing them to questioned marks. “Hands-on” training, which will include the examination of tools, toolmarks, the preparation of test marks, and the comparison of marks using a comparison microscope will be provided.

Nancy McCombs

During this course, students will examine marks produced by various firearms on cartridges, cartridge cases, shotshells and fired shotshells. Striated and impressed marks from both cycling and firing a firearm will be examined and their probative value will be discussed. Although the class focuses on the marks routinely encountered in casework (breechface marks, firing pin impressions, chamber marks, ejection port marks, extractor marks, ejector marks and magazine marks), many less common marks will also be examined and compared. The firearms used to produce many of the exemplars will be available for students to examine. The evaluation of class, individual, and potential subclass characteristics will be addressed, and options for the wording of casework reports will be discussed.

Nancy McCombs

This 5-Day class focuses on toolmarks transferred onto bullets by the barrels of firearms. Students will become familiar with examining the general rifling characteristics (GRC) of bullets in no gun cases in order to determine true caliber, nominal caliber and caliber designation. During the class, a GRC database will frequently be accessed in order to generate lists of possible firearms. Students will examine and compare bullets of various design in an attempt to find corresponding individual agreement. In addition, shotshell components will be examined to determine caliber and shot size. Bullets fired from consecutively manufactured barrels and several barrel casts will be available for evaluation of potential subclass characteristic carryover. Various options for the wording of casework reports will be discussed.

Nancy McCombs

Forensic testimony presents unique challenges. In today’s judicial system, laboratory professionals are expected to communicate objective findings clearly, without ambiguity, bias, or overstatement. This course is designed to equip participants with practical communication skills that enhance courtroom testimony and extend into broader professional settings. Participants will develop structured strategies to translate technical laboratory procedures and results into language that is accessible to diverse audiences, particularly those without a scientific background. Emphasis is placed on delivering information in a way that not only informs, but effectively connects with individuals who process information differently. Through guided instruction and scenario-based exercises, participants will refine their verbal delivery, strengthen professional presence, and develop the ability to adapt under pressure while communicating with clarity and confidence.

Deion Christophe