Mercyhurst students take honors in essay contest

Mercyhurst representatives will deliver a dozen presentations and posters.
Mercyhurst representatives will deliver a dozen presentations and posters. | File photo

Kelsey Carpenter and Jacob Griffin of Mercyhurst University have earned top awards through the Forensic Sciences Foundation’s (FSF) annual essay contest.

These two applied forensic science graduate students, along with seven other United States students throughout the country, will receive a $1,500 FSF Student Travel Grant to aid with expenses in attending the American Academy of Forensic Sciences Annual Scientific Meeting in Las Vegas. Carpenter earned top scores in the contest and received a library of books valued at $1,500.

The annual meeting in Las Vegas will include a fair share of Mercyhurst forensic anthropology faculty and students. Mercyhurst representatives will deliver a dozen presentations and posters.

Participants in the meeting will include students Sarah Fournier, Kelsey Carpenter, Kene Ihle and Jacob Griffin; former students Kate Lesciotto, Kaleigh Best, Michael Kenyhercz, Kyra Stull, Erin Chapman, Sara Getz and Sean Carlson-Greer; and university professors Stephen Ousley, Steven Symes, Heather Garvin, Alexandra Klales, Dennis Dirkmaat and Luis Cabo-Perez.

Mercyhurst presentations will include ““New Forensic Archaeological Recovery Protocols for Fatal Vehicle Fires,” “Improved Adult Age Estimation Using New Skeletal Traits and Transition Analysis” and “Reliability of Biomechanical Descriptors to Assess Blunt Force Injuries in the Cranium.”