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The FSF Announces the 2025–26 Field and Lucas Research Grant Recipients

Each year, the Forensic Sciences Foundation (FSF) awards monies in the form of grants to members of the forensic science communities to help the investigator/researcher initiate original in-depth, problem-oriented research throughout the year. These grants are open to members and affiliates (at any level) of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. This year, the FSF Research Committee has awarded two Field Grant and six Lucas Grants totaling $34,055.99.

Congratulations to all recipients!  And a big thank you to the FSF Research Committee: William Johnson, BA (Chair), James Caruso, MD, Demi Garvin, PharmD, Tiffany Rodriguez, MS, and Gulnaz T. Javan, PhD. 

Field Grant Recipients

Kelly Kamnikar, PhD

Investigation of Postcranial Metric Methods Used in Population Affinity Analysis for Hispanic Americans and American Indians
$899.99
Kelly Kamnikar

Jihun Joun, PhD

A Digital Forensic Framework for Autonomous Robot Incidents on Edge AI Platforms
$1,400
Jihun Joun

Lucas Grant Recipients

Alexia Cassman, BS

Quantitative Analysis of DNA Transfer on Breast Swabs: Characterizing DNA-TPPR in Social and Intimate Contexts
$5,977
Alexia Cassman

Morgan Ferrell, PhD

A Comparative Assessment of Mobile Application LiDAR and Photogrammetry Versus DSLR Photogrammetry in Outdoor Forensic Archaeological Scenes
$3,530
Morgan Ferrell

Chelsea Garza, MS, PharmD

Optimization of Forensic Bone DNA Extraction Using the EZ2 Connect Fx
$5,982
Chelsea Garza

Sydney Hampton, BS

From Nature to Intelligence: Biological and Chemical Analysis of Mitragyna Speiciosa
$5,467
Sydney Hampton

Madeline McLeod, PhD

Re-use of Template DNA From Archived STR reactions for SNP Typing
$6,000
Madeline McLeod

Xiaomeng Yang, MS

Use of MicroRNA Expression in DNA Extracts to Predict Muscularity Class in Forensic Samples
$5,700
Xiaomeng Yang
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