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Forensics Debuts as Science Elective

Forensics debuted in spring 2022 as a science elective with an inaugural class of 10 students. Focused on the scientific techniques used in the detection of crimes, Amelia Kolach led the class in using laboratory and project-based techniques in the areas of forensic theory, evidence collection, forensic tracing, and the legal system.
“It’s really a wide survey of a variety of aspects of crimes,” said Kolach. “Since this class is both new to me and Chatham Hall, we’re spending this year experimenting.”

In addition to hair samples taken from across campus - with horse, human, dog, and cat hair all studied - labs also included fabric identification, blood splatter investigation, handwriting analysis, fingerprint exploration, and more.

“I wanted to do something fun,” said Kolach of developing the course. “In forensics, there’s so much we can do with crime scene mapping, trace evidence, and just so much more. Forensics really links together all of these aspects using different types of science."

For Kensington Nelson ‘22, the different types of science used in forensics was a big draw, as was the outdoor crime scene mapping that took place on the soccer field.

“I like that it’s a mix of note-taking and then hands-on activities,” she said. “We’ve written an essay to present to a jury for our hair sample analysis, we’ve done a crime scene investigation. It’s just not like the other science classes, you need skills from all kinds of areas and you have to want to get involved.

“The crime scene was so cool, we took things from our own rooms and scattered them around the field. Then we had to search for evidence and really pay attention to what we were looking for and what we were finding. I would never have expected this in another science class, it really takes it to another level when you go outside like that.”

Throughout the semester, regardless of the types of science being used, Kolach has focused on exploration and curiosity.

“I tell the students that exploration is huge. They should be and need to be curious. They might think they don’t like forensics because of blood and gore but that’s not forensics. Forensics is learning how to observe and analyze. It’s more exploratory than anything. You’ll learn a lot, and probably a lot about yourself.”
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800 Chatham Hall Circle  •  Chatham, VA 24531
+1 434.432.2941  •  admissions@chathamhall.org
Day and boarding school for girls grades 9-12 in the Episcopal tradition.

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