Research Areas

Pattern recognition is a challenging aspect of forensic fire debris analysis that is addressed by my research group. Fire debris analysts are required to detect the pattern of a multiple-component ignitable liquid in the presence of a highly complex background. Gas chromatography – mass spectrometry is the industry standard method for analysis of fire debris samples. Interpretation of the data and inference regarding the presence or absence of ignitable liquid residue benefits greatly from the application of chemometrics. Statistical learning methods have been shown by our laboratory to produce validated models that allow the analyst to make probabilistic statements regarding the evidentiary value of fire debris samples.

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