Crime Fridays at URI: Forensic Science Partnership Seminar Series Free and Open to Public

Photo: During the fall, the lecture series welcomed FBI explosives expert Kirk Yeager, a regular presenter in the series. (Photo courtesy K. Yeager)

Crime Fridays return to URI beginning Jan. 30

 The University of Rhode Island’s Forensic Science Partnership Seminar Series returns to campus for the new semester on Friday, Jan. 30. One of the more unique lecture series in Rhode Island welcomes budding forensic scientists, crime buffs and crime fighters to the Beaupre Center on Friday afternoons at 3:30 p.m.

Visiting speakers come to URI from an alphabet of crime agencies, from the state Fire Marshal’s Office to the U.S. Secret Service. During the fall, the lecture series welcomed FBI explosives expert Kirk Yeager, as well as URI’s own Victor Fay-Wolfe, Otto Gregory, Alec Wyers, and Michael Jagoda ’91 on topics ranging from art heists to campus safety.

All lectures are open to the public at no cost and are held in the Richard E. Beaupre Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences (Room 100), 140 Flagg Rd., Kingston.

URI’s Beaupre Center holds its Forensic Science Partnership Seminar Series on Friday afternoons, January through April. (URI Photo Nora Lewis)

This spring’s speakers and topics are:

Jan. 30 — “CSI at URI,†Dennis Hilliard. Hilliard is the director of the Rhode Island State Crime Lab and has helped coordinate the forensic lecture series since 1999. He is an adjunct professor in the College of Pharmacy and co-director of the URI Forensic Science Partnership. Hilliard has presented at the seminar 15 times.

Feb. 6 — “The role of the medicolegal investigator,†Kerry Burke, medicolegal scene investigator, Rhode Island Department of Health. Burke has served as a certified medicolegal death investigator since 2010.

Feb. 13 — “Artificial intelligence and criminal law,†Michael DiLauro, attorney. DiLauro is a retired public defender. He also was a member of the Rhode Island Public Defender’s trial division, where he defended approximately 60 capital cases. This will be his eighth presentation at the seminar series.

Feb. 20 — “Impaired driving,†Anthony Silva, Rhode Island Police Chiefs Association. Silva’s 33-year career in law enforcement includes six years as director of the Rhode Island Municipal Police Academy and a decade as chief of police in Cumberland, Rhode Island. He has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Transportation as a New England champion and advocate for highway safety.

Feb. 27 — “Forensic archaeology,†Bridget Buxton, professor of history at URI. Buxton specializes in classical and underwater archaeology and is currently working on a book about the fall of the Roman Republic and foundation of the Principate of Augustus.

March 6 — “A career in forensic science,†Jennifer Robisheaux, URI criminalist II, lead firearm and tool examiner. Robisheaux has more than a decade of forensic science experience. Her skills include the handling of firearms and fired ammunition components, comparison microscopy, and courtroom testimony.

March 13 — “Forensics in Egypt,†Ahmed Salem, URI Department of Chemistry. Salem is a postdoctoral researcher at URI. A forensic chemist with more than 20 years’ experience in the field, Salem specializes in crime science investigations; he also taught forensic chemistry in the Egyptian armed forces and has served as a forensic consultant at the United Nations. Salem served as a forensic chemist in Cairo for two decades, consulting on a number of international cases, and served as a forensic quality director for the Egyptian Forensic Authority.

March 27 — “Morphology of friction skin,†Mark Zabinski, Rhode Island State Crime Lab. The former Cranston, Rhode Island, police detective and crime scene investigator is a specialist in friction ridge identification (more commonly known as fingerprinting). He is a certified latent print examiner by the International Association for Identification.

April 3 — “The way to a man’s heart is not through his stomach,†Marius Tarau, Rhode Island chief medical examiner. Tarau began as Rhode Island’s chief medical examiner in 2024. A native of Romania, he previously served as a medical examiner in Kansas City, Missouri, and is certified by the American Board of Pathology. In his role as state medical examiner, Tarau supports the death investigation process, provides critical information to law enforcement partners, screens for public health issues, and helps support the families of the deceased.

April 10 — “The prosecutor’s role in the criminal justice system,†Stephen Dambruch, Chief, Criminal Division, Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General. Dambruch, who began his career as a state prosecutor, rejoined the attorney general’s office in 2019 after 15 years as an assistant United States attorney.

April 17 — “Forensic investigative genetic genealogy,†Jacquelyn Verdi, forensic scientist, Rhode Island State Police. Verdi works as a forensic scientist for the state police, responding to major crime scenes as needed to assist with evidence collection and the documentation and preservation of evidence. She also worked as a criminalist for the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

April 24 — “Faulty forensics and wrongful convictions,†Stephanie Hartung, senior staff attorney, New England Innocence Project. Prior to her work with the Innocence Project, Hartung was a law professor in Boston for 19 years, at Suffolk and Northeastern law schools. Her research and scholarship focused on wrongful convictions and criminal procedure. Before joining academia, she worked as a public defender in California.

(Schedule subject to change; join email list for updates)

The public can park in Lot 13 behind the Beaupre Center, which is open for general parking at 3 p.m. on seminar Fridays. High school students interested in forensics are also welcome.

Those who cannot attend in person may view the lectures live online.

Fall 2025 lectures can also be viewed online.

To learn more about the URI Forensic Science Partnership Seminar Series and to be added to the series’ email list, contact kristen.curry@uri.edu or call 401-874-5602.