Purposethis award will support the development and dissemination of technically sound forensic science standards in many forensic science disciplines that will be made freely available for the…

Purposethis award will support the development and dissemination of technically sound forensic science standards in many forensic science disciplines that will be made freely available for the public.activities to be performedthe award will enable the recipient to financially support three full time positions that are focused on administering the standards development activities of the many consensus bodies operating under the american academy of forensic science's academy standards board. Support will also be provided to help with dissemination of these standards and tracking their downloads. Travel support will also be provided to enable participation by the volunteer members of the academy standards board's governing board in two in-person meetings. Expected outcomesthe recipient will be able to provide impactful forensic science standards in many forensicscience disciplines, such as DNA, firearms, toxicology, and fingerprints to the public free ofcharge. The recipient will receive funding to support the significant administrative costs involved with running an SDO with over 10 consensus bodies. This project will add a new staff member to the team and also support the two existing staff members which will allow for the many administrative tasks to be executed in a more rapid and detailed fashion. The project will also allow for travel support for several board meetings which enables them to be more strategic in new initiatives and provide educational opportunities for its leaders and members.intended beneficiariesthe intended beneficiaries include forensic science service providers and the public. Both will benefit from the additional consensus-based forensic science standards in disciplines such as DNA, firearms, toxicology and fingerprints being available to the public and crime laboratories operating in the united states free of charge. These standards will also be available for the many law enforcement agencies that process crime scenes and collect fingerprints outside of traditional crime laboratories. Access to this diverse set of forensic science standards will result in higher quality work being performed by crime laboratories and law enforcement agencies in the united states and presented in criminal cases. The adoption of these standards into everyday practice, can improve consistency within and across crime laboratories and law enforcement agencies, ensure confidence in the accuracy, reliability, and reproducibility of their results, and positively increase the impact of admissibility and expert testimony in courts of law.subrecipient activitiesno subrecipient