First-ever Forensic Science Bootcamp at UND

Grand Forks, North Dakota – This weekend at Turtle River State Park, the University of North Dakota will host its inaugural Forensic Science Bootcamp, with at least twenty-six students searching the forest for evidence.

Here, junior and senior students will act out a pretend crime scene set up by department heads, where they will assume the real-world responsibilities of forensic investigators.

This three-day course will be assisted by North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Derek Madsen. The instructors claim that they will cover every possible technique, including ballistics, crime scene reconstruction, fingerprint analysis, and a host of other topics. They are supposed to work out during the day as well as at night.

Under the guidance of their directors and instructors, students will be given a specific job and team to work with while they go through evidence and do various forensic tests.

Thanks to a kind donation of $2,500 from the college’s Arts & Sciences Advisory Board, this program was provided at no cost. Typically, professional instruction of this kind could set one back more than $1,000.

“The plan is to be really true, so we are going to put them in a real-case scenario, minus the actual crime,” explains Lavinia Iancu, director of forensic science at UND. Additionally, cooperation will be more crucial than before.

Students who successfully finish will get a joint credential from the North Dakota BCI and UND.