Karen Lotter's Blog

Posted by Karen Lotter

I worry a bit about my own country because I don’t see much happening here on the eco-tourism front, so I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I read that an advertising agency is showing the way.

My Tree in Africa is an eco tourism initiative launched for the 2010 Soccer World Cup by South African based Zoom Advertising.

2010 Carbon Footprint

Deon Robbertze, creative director of Zoom Advertising explains that South African Tourism recently made an appeal that people involved in the tourism industry did something about the carbon footprint of overseas visitors to this country. “My tree in Africa' is a solution. With 2010 looming, we need to promote South Africa as environmentally responsible, because many of these visitors will be green-aware.”

Working together with highly respected organization Food and Trees for Africa, Zoom’s green initiative is simple to grasp and easy to implement. Every R80 collected will pay for the planting of a tree in Africa.

Food and Trees for Africa

This non-profit organisation, which was established in 1990 addresses greening, global warming mitigation, sustainable natural resource management, and food security. Through countless projects it creates awareness of the benefits of healthy environments and climate change while contributing to poverty alleviation, improved environments, capacity building and skills development.

Gaining momentum by the day, Zoom Advertising has signed up Travel Smart, to the ‘My Tree in Africa' campaign. Travel Smart - which is a group of companies, of which Giltedge Travel is one member - has gone one step further and stated it will also make its own organization carbon neutral.

So it looks like Eco tourism is picking up speed in South Africa, even if it is being driven by an advertising agency.

Posted by Karen Lotter

What kind of people become volunteers? I was wondering about that when I was working on the Habitat for Humanity International Global Village article.

I’ve know many volunteers, here where I live in Durban on the East Coast of South Africa. Because of the devastation left in our country by centuries of colonialism and apartheid, our government cannot, even with the best intentions carry out its mandate “to provide a better life for all its people”. It relies greatly on the partnerships with business, and NGO’s (Non-Government Organizations) which are often run by and or staffed by volunteers.

Vibrant Zulu Culture

Young volunteers also arrive from Europe to spend a year or a few months working with organizations and soon become completely immersed in the vibrant Zulu culture.

I know that even though the volunteers have more education and skills when they arrive in Africa – they all say they that when they leave, they take away so much more than they could ever give.

Many stay on or move on to another part of Africa.

I know that this Topic is about volunteer tourism or voluntourism, which I have heard from some, is just a step away from full time volunteering. (Oh and Eco Adventures, which seem to attract similar people)

Volunteer Tourism is a Way to Celebrate Ubuntu

But volunteer tourism for most, is a way to give and receive in a real, genuine and uncluttered way. Volunteer tourism is a way to celebrate what we in Africa call Ubuntu – our connectedness as humans – I am because you are.

Posted by Karen Lotter

One of the interesting things about being a forensic science fan, is that people all want give you their opinions of the criminal justice system when they know that you are interested in forensics. Before you get a chance to open your mouth, they babble on about everything from fingerprints and DNA to toolmarks and bitemark evidence.

Of course, they all believe they are all closet forensic psychologists or forensic psychiatrists who slip into the role of criminal profiler whenever they hear of a crime that has been committed that interests or horrifies them.

Calling in the Real Criminal Profiler

I know the wealth of profilers in popular fiction and on TV and in the movies have contributed to this illusion that criminal profiling is just a manner of instinct and a “sixth sense.”

I often wonder whether the public realizes that criminal profilers are not really a dime, a dozen, and that most are people with extensive experience and training and qualifications in forensic psychology or forensic psychiatry.

But, when watching crime programs on TV (I watch a lot of real crime) it seems like the FBI always calls in a criminal profiler who seems to say very similar things in very different crimes.

Forensic Science and the Criminal Justice System

The fact is that although the criminal justice system relies much more nowadays on forensic evidence, most convictions are still due to good solid police work, which is unglamorous and often very dangerous.

However, there is no doubt that the public’s fascination with all things forensic science is here to stay.

Posted by Karen Lotter

In real life, Forensic Psychology and Forensic Psychiatry are not what we see in movies like Silence of the Lambs or British TV show, Cracker although, because of shows like these, profilers – both real and fictional – have become high profile celebrities.

Silence of the Lambs first popularised profiling when it won five Oscars and cast a completely new light on insanity.

Behavioral Science Unit (BSU)

In an unprecedented move, author Thomas Harris received permission to go to meetings of the Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) of the FBI and learn about the men who did the profiling. From them, he devised the novels, Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs.

According to Crimelibary.com : “the unfortunate impression was given in this story that young agents can become profilers without any field experience and that female agents might be left alone with dangerous killers—even go out on their own to try to apprehend them.”

Forensic Psychologist

Psychologists study behaviour. They do not have a medial degree. Forensic psychology is the practice of clinical psychology within our legal system. A forensic psychologist may assist in a wide variety of civil matters as well as criminal ones. Forensic psychologists work mainly in the prison and probation services to develop intervention techniques and treatment programs. Much of the work of a forensic psychologist focuses on therapy in correctional settings.

Forensic Psychiatrist

Psychiatrists on the other hand first qualify as medial doctors, then specialize as psychiatrist and then usually do an extra qualification in Forensic Psychiatry.

Favorite Criminal Profilers in Fiction

One of my favourite criminal profilers in fiction is Jeffrey Deaver’s Lincoln Rhymes, who is a quadriplegic, and has the ability to profile criminals from his home through other police officers.

I also have a soft spot for James Patterson's forensic psychologist, Alex Cross.

Posted by Karen Lotter

I’m not quite sure what started me on bite marks maybe one of the true crime programs I enjoy watching in TV – we get the Crime and Investigation Channel here in South Africa so I am intimately familiar with serial killers and a host of forensic science topics from watching reruns of the programs.

I guess it was one of the serial killer programs that focused on Ted Bundy. In this one True Crime writer Anne Rule was talking about the time when she and Ted Bundy were friends.

While a university student in Seattle, Bundy worked all kinds of odd jobs including as a night-shift volunteer at Seattle's Suicide Hot Line. That was where he met and worked with former Seattle policewoman and fledgling crime writer Ann Rule. Who later wrote the most famous biography of Bundy and his crimes, The Stranger Beside Me.

In an interview with Katherine Ramsland, Rule says that she knew that Bundy was a serial killer but s tiny shed of doubt remained and that the bite mark evidence during the trial, which she covered as a reporter, remained the hardest for her:

"To be absolutely sure about his guilt," Rule remembers, "I needed to see direct physical evidence, and there it was, no question. It made me sick to my stomach. I went down to the hall to the ladies' room and threw up. Yet he still maintained this suave, friendly look. It was a bad day for me."

The Stranger Beside Me launched her career.

Being an Anne Rule fan and a writer I wondered at the incredible coincidence of a serial killer and a true crime writer becoming friends before their paths would take them in such opposite, yet similar directions.

Posted by Karen Lotter

I Encountered Dr Henry C Lee on the Larry King Show

I 'm not sure where I encountered Dr Henry C Lee for the first time – I guess it was on the Larry King Show during the Laci Peterson Case or maybe Elizabeth Smart’s disappearance.

But I was hooked. Now understand, Larry King comes on at about 3am in South Africa on CNN International, but I didn’t miss a show.

Criminalist Dr Henry Lee and forensic Pathologist Dr Cyril H. Wecht were called in to examine the remains of Laci and the unborn baby. Both Lee and Wecht also investigated the death of federal intern Chandra Levy. That was another crime story I watched, unfolding.

When writing the article on Dr Henry C Lee I realized that he had also been on the OJ Simpson Case.

Interactive Museum and Education Centre

Last week I was interested to learn that according to the US Fed News Service, Gov. M. Jodi Rell, announced that a new interactive museum and education center, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, will be built at the at the University of New Haven, in Connecticut, thanks to $1 million in state bond funds.

This new building at the Henry C Lee Forensic Science Institute which will house the museum and learning center, will exhibit prominent cases, investigative techniques, crime scenes, historical archives and interactive displays. Visitors will also be able to view work taking place in the DNA fingerprint and chemistry laboratories at the Institute.

The Henry C. Lee Forensic Science Insititue

The Henry C. Lee Forensic Science Institute already provides postgraduate training to law enforcement personnel from across the state and the country, and also provides consultation services to lawyers and police departments.

Posted by Karen Lotter

I remember well when I picked up one of my favorite thriller writers, Patricia Cornwell’s fifth Kay Scarpetta Book, The Body Farm. Like with all her earlier books, I couldn’t wait to get home, turn off the phones and settle down to devour it in one go.

Dr Kay Scarpetta - Special Forensic Skills

In The Body Farm, Cornwell’s chief medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta, solves another difficult mystery needing her special forensic skills and insights.

Scarpetta is joined by Benton Wesley, her niece Lucy, now working for the FBI, and detective Pete Marino.

The Body Farm, like all Patricia Cornwell’s books, is original and a masterpiece of forensic science fiction writing, although the actual body farm from the title is only the subject of one chapter of the book, if I remember correctly.

Three Body Farms in the USA

Well, more body farms are being established in the USA – the latest one at Texas State.

According to a media release dated 12 January, “The Forensic Research Facility will be an open-air lab of approximately five acres surrounded by high security fencing. Within this lab, human bodies that have been donated to the facility will be allowed to decompose in a natural environment under the study of forensic anthropologists.”

It will also provide training in the identification of skeletal and dental remains. Workshops for law enforcement at the facility will include crime scene training, human identification and cadaver dog training.

Law Enforcement Agencies Support the Texas Body Farm

Like the Body Farm at Knoxville, Tennessee, all bodies in the facility will be treated with respect and according to regular protocol for the study of human remains. Support for the Texas body farm has come from many law enforcement agencies in Texas and nationally.

Posted by Karen Lotter

Forensic Science is Not Always About Serious Stuff

I had plenty of fun writing the Forensic Science Urban Legends and Forensic Science T-Shirts articles. I mean, who says forensic science always has to be about serious stuff?

But it really did get me thinking about how wide the topic really is.

When I started writing Forensic Science articles I made a list of articles I could write about DNA profiles and fingerprints and toolmarks – all the CSI related topics because that is what immediately comes to mind when one thinks of Forensic Science.

But as I have been writing and reading and researching, I have come upon heaps of other stuff related to forensic science, like the material that led to the Forensic Science Urban Legends and Forensic Science T-Shirts articles.

Forensic Urban Legends are Not the Same as a Hoax

I having been thinking a lot about urban legends or “tall tales” or “believe it or not” stories and trying to work out the fine line that separates them from hoaxes. I think one has a look at all the definitions of what is a hoax, they agree that it is the intention to deceive or trick.

Forensic urban legends may also be mostly untrue, but I don’t think they are purposely created with the same intention that hoaxes are created. Maybe there is merely a degree of difference.

For me, urban legends are more like believe it or not stories – sometimes weird and whacky stories; odd, unusual and well, often bizarre.

Village Gossip

I grew up in the country in a small town and I guess I enjoy these forensic science urban legends because they remind me a lot of the village gossip and stories I grew up with as a child.

Posted by Karen Lotter

Sometimes it’s quite hard to keep up with all the happenings in the world of Forensic Science so I’m constantly looking for good sources of information. I found a great one recently in Forensic Magazine.

The Forensic Magazine Website is jam-packed with every type of article the most devoted CSI or forensic science enthusiast could ever want to read. It is obviously targeted at the forensic industry but is pretty accessible to interested laypeople.

The blurb on the website says:“Forensic Magazine® is among today's leading trade publications focusing exclusively on the field of forensics. Published 6 times a year, it has been hailed by industry experts as an authoritative, trusted publication. Designed to help forensics specialists keep current with today's demands, each issue features valuable trade tips, invigorating articles and more.”

One can subscribe to the Forensic Magazine and if you live in the USA, even receive a hard copy of it.

March Issue of Forensic Magazine - Forensic Art, DNA, AFIS and more

I was very interested in the articles in the March issue which run from Forensic Art to AFIS and DNA to Appropriate Standards and Controls in Computer Forensics.

The line-up of back issues is tempting and I know that I will keep dipping into them for my forensic science fix every now and then.

Forensic Jobs

But it was the Forensic Jobs that really caught my eye – everything from an Associate Professor of Forensic Pathology, to Forensic Accounting jobs, Forensic Nurse, Forensic Investigations, Forensics Toxicologist, Forensic Specializing Criminalist and many more.

So, I guess I’ll be paying some regular visits to Forensic Magazine – you can expect to see it cropping up as a reference quite often.

Posted by Karen Lotter

There are many kinds of databases that are used for identification in crime prevention like the well known super databases - VICAP and CODIS.

We know that forensic science wouldn’t be the same without all these vast databanks, even ones of sneakers and of tire prints and toolmarks. They are all essential in crime scene processing.

But now, I think the FBI is going a bit overboard. In a recent report from Clarkesburg, West Virginia, the FBI said that it is gearing up to create a massive computer database of people's physical characteristics, all part of its effort to better identify criminals and terrorists.

Civil liberties experts agree with me that the people of America should be very afraid!

Biometric Information Database

According to CNN.com/technology, the bureau is expected to announce in coming days the awarding of a $1 billion, 10-year contract to help create the database that will compile an array of biometric information - from palm prints to eye scans.

The FBI wants to add all this additional information to its 55 million sets of fingerprints on file. In coming years, the bureau wants to compare palm prints, scars and tattoos, iris eye patterns, and facial shapes. The idea is to combine various pieces of biometric information to positively identify a potential suspect.

Civil Liberties Experts Say No

While law enforcement officials think this is a good idea, many people are not so happy with so much personal information being collected by the FBI.

It's the beginning of the surveillance society where you can be tracked anywhere, any time and all your movements, and eventually all your activities will be tracked and noted and correlated," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Technology and Liberty Project.

Posted by Karen Lotter

People are talking a lot about DNA lately. I recently read an article from the United Kingdom where Britain’s Lord Justice Sedley suggested that everyone in the country (and all who visit) add their genetic information- their DNA profiles – to the Home Office database that already holds the DNA information of over four million people, which translates to five percent of the British population.

Human Genome Project

Ever since the Human Genome Project in 2003 in which the first set of 23 human chromosomes was decoded, scientists and the biotech industry have been exploring all possible avenues of exploiting this potential goldmine of information.

At present a group of new companies is offering to “mine’ your genes for information about your ancestors.

Oxford Ancestors - Personal Ancestry Resrearch

Oxford Ancestors claims to be the world’s leading provider of DNA-based services for use in personal ancestry research. Their services and products, they say, provide the scientific insight that allows people to explore and discover their own ancient genetic roots.

Not to be left out of the future, Google recently bought a $3.9 million minority stake in a Californian company called 23andme.

23andme - Personalized DNA Service

23andme offers a personalized a web-based service that helps you read and understand your DNA . I also has your information stored, so that when medical and theoretical advances, relevant to your DNA profile are archived, you will be notified. The blurb says something about…after providing a saliva sample using an at-home kit, people can use their interactive tools to shed new light on their distant ancestors, their close family and most of all, themselves.

Imagine DNA Google Alerts– cool or creepy?

Posted by Karen Lotter

There are many aspects of forensic science that fascinate me. We are fortunate to have pretty good selection of Satellite TV in South Africa and we’re about to get more this year when more pay TV channels get into the market.

My favorites of course, are A&E’s Crime & Investigation Network, Hallmark and BBC Prime where I can watch programs like Cracker and Spooks and Wire in the Blood and Prime Suspect.

Toolmark Evidence at Many Crime Scenes

We also get most of the American hit programs like the CSI Trilogy. At the moment CSI New York and CSI Las Vegas are showing on different channels.

So, I was watching something gripping that involved a gory crime scene the other night and it struck me how often toolmark evidence features in crime scenes.

You usually see cops peering at the striations on a lock or car bumper or someone photographing toolmarks on a door frame that was jimmied open.

That's why I wrote the article about toolmarks and about indentations and scrapes and how important they are and why cops always seem to be photographing and measuring them at a crime scene.

Matching the Toolmark to the Particular Tool

Something that amazes me is when a fence or piece of wire is cut and the forensic scientists manage to match the toolmarks to the bolt cutters or the pliers that did it.

I know that the real world of crime scenes is not like it is on the TV and that the CSI Effect has had both a positive and negative impact on crime fighting, but crime and cop shows and reality shows about bad guys sure make for great entertainment.

Also Read:

The Lighter Side of Forensics

Careers: Forensic Nursing

Chemiluminescent Luminol

Posted by Karen Lotter

My thirst for solving mysteries started at an early age and it didn’t take me long to graduate from Enid Blyton’s Famous Five to murder mystery novels.

My mother was a crime novel devotee, so we’d go to the library together each week. I started with Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen and picked up the tricks of the trade as an armchair forensic criminologist.

Patricia Cornwell introduces Dr Kay Scarpetta, Chief Medical Examiner

When Patricia Cornwell’s Dr Kay Scarpetta exploded onto the scene in 1990 with Postmortem, I became a devoted follower of this Chief Medical Examiner. Murder Mystery novels had reached a new height.

Although Patricia Cornwell has written other books, including a biography of Billy Graham’s wife, none compare to her well researched Kay Scarpetta books which are packed with forensic evidence and new forensic technology, which certainly contribute to the CSI effect, but make for white-knuckle reading.

1 March 1996, six of Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta books were on the USA Today list of the 25 most best-selling mystery books to date. The latest Scarpetta novel, Book of the Dead, appeared in 2007.

What is so fascinating about Kay Scarpetta?

I’ve tried to figure out what it is about Kay Scarpetta that is so fascinating, besides the fast paced, well written plot lines and the familiar characters of Lucy, her niece; Pete Marino, the cop side-kick and Benton Wesley, her FBI Profiler /lover.

Forensic evidence, forensic technology, forensic everything – that is the key to Kay Scarpetta. Somehow Cornwell knows absolutely how to present really gory and technical details in a way that is interesting and exciting.

To satisfy a reading public that is already pretty “forensic literate”, Patricia Cornwell always manages to come up with something new, and that is what we all wait for in the next Kay Scarpetta book.