2007 - 2008 Board of Directors
Joseph P. Polski, President (Chief Operations Officer, IAI) **2008
Joe Polski is the Chief Operations Officer and a past president of the International Association for Identification (IAI). Polski is currently the Treasurer of the Consortium of Forensic Science Organizations (CFSO). In addition, he is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Forensic Science Committee and chair of its resolutions sub-committee, a member of the General Forensics Technical Working Group of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and a member of the Identification Services Sub-Committee of the FBI’s Advisory Policy Board. He is currently President of the Board of Directors of the National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC).
Polski has long been active in the field of criminal identification and forensic science at the local, state, and national levels. He is a retired Commander with the St. Paul, Minnesota Police Department, where he served for 31 years. During that time Polski held many positions dealing with identification and forensic science including that of laboratory director.
Karolyn Tontarski, Secretary (Montgomery County, MD Crime Laboratory) **2009
Karolyn Leclaire Tontarski is currently the technical leader of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Crime Laboratory Forensic Biology Unit. Ms. Tontarski’s career in forensic science began at the Massachusetts State Police Crime Laboratory in 1984, where she worked for just over eleven years. Kary also worked for the Virginia Division of Forensic Science in their Northern Laboratory (Fairfax, Virginia) before beginning her tenure with Montgomery County in 2001.
Over the course of her career, Ms. Tontarski has performed examinations in and qualified as an expert with respect to DNA analysis, body fluid identification/serology testing, crime scene examination,and evidence recovery, bloodstain pattern interpretation and crime scene reconstruction, trace evidence analysis, and footwear impression evidence analysis.
Kary attended Mount Holyoke College from 1979 to 1983, graduating with a B.A. in Biochemistry. In 2002, she earned an MA in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University.
Ms. Tontarski is the past-president of the Northeastern Association of Forensic Scientists and of the American Board of Criminalistics. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and a National DNA Index System (NDIS) Audit Review Panel member.
Benny Del Re (Santa Clara Crime Laboratory) **2010
Frank Dolejsi (Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension) **2008
Education: Bachelor of Science (Chemistry)
University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse Professional Affiliations:
- American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors
- NFSTC Board (2005-present)
- ASCLD/LAB Board of Directors (2003-present)
- ASCLD Board of Directors (1999-2002)
- ASCLD-LAB Inspector (Legacy Program)
- American Academy of Forensic Sciences
- Society of Forensic Toxicologists
- The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists
- Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists
Kari Kusmierz
J.C. Upshaw Downs, M.D. (Georgia Bureau of Investigation) **2010
James Claude Upshaw (“Jamie”) Downs, M.D., is coastal Georgia’s first Regional Medical Examiner. He has been continuously employed
as a Medical Examiner since 1989 and was Alabama’s State Forensics Director and Chief Medical Examiner from 1998 to 2002.
Dr. Downs has lectured extensively in the field of forensic pathology and has presented at numerous national and international meetings in the fields of anatomic and forensic pathology. He is a consultant to the FBI Behavioral Science Unit in Quantico, Virginia, having authored four chapters in their manual on Managing Death Investigation and was primary author of the FBI’s acclaimed Forensic Investigator’s Trauma Atlas. He has authored several books and chapters in the field of forensic pathology and child abuse, including Abusive Head Trauma in Infants and Children: A Medical, Legal & Forensic Reference with CD-ROM and Child Fatality Review: A Clinical Guide and A Color Atlas (in press).
He has lectured regularly at the National Forensic Academy and at the FBI’s National Academy. Areas of special interest include child abuse and police use of force. Professional activities have included service on numerous professional boards and committees. He has testified in numerous state and federal courts, as well as before committees of the United States Senate and House of Representatives.
Dr. Downs is on the Board of Advisors for the Law Enforcement Innovation Center at the University of Tennessee, the Board of Directors of the National Association of Medical Examiners, the Board of Directors of the Consortium of Forensic Science Organizations (Vice Chair), and the National Forensic Science Technology Center. He also serves on the Forensic Committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
After graduating from the University of Georgia in 1983 (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa), Dr. Downs completed Peace Officers Standards and Training at the Southwest Alabama Police Academy, where he distinguished himself as class president and top academic student. He received his doctor of medicine degree and his residency training in anatomic and clinical pathology and his fellowship in forensic pathology from the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston). He is board certified in anatomic, clinical, and forensic pathology.
Marie Samples (New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner) **2009
Marie Samples is an Assistant Director with the Department of Forensic Biology, which is part of the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, in New York City. The laboratory is the forensic DNA testing laboratory for the city, with current responsibility for the analysis of homicides, sexual assaults, and selected other cases. Within the laboratory, Marie manages a casework group and the CODIS group of criminalists.
Prior to joining the Department of Forensic Biology, Marie was a Criminalist with the California Department of Justice crime laboratory system. Her experience includes serology, controlled substance identification, clandestine drug labs, blood/breath/urine alcohol analysis, and general crime scene responsibilities.
A native Californian, Marie has a B.S. in Biochemistry from the California Polytechnic State University (San Luis Obispo) and two master’s degrees (chemistry and biochemistry). She has been active in many professional organizations, including the American Board of Criminalistics, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and the Forensic Education Program Accreditation Commission.
Don Wyckoff (ASCLD/LAB) **2009
Don Wyckoff holds a BA degree in biology and BS degrees in nuclear and mechanical engineering. He became the business manager for ASCLD/LAB after serving more than 28 years as a laboratory manager and forensic scientist with the Idaho State Police (ISP) Forensic Services. Prior to beginning work in forensic science, he was employed in chemical and engineering R&D in the private sector.
During his tenure with the ISP, Don worked in most sections of the laboratory and held the position of laboratory manager for over twenty years. Don has traveled extensively throughout the world during his professional career, working with scientists both in and out of the field of forensic science.
He is a member of several professional forensic science and engineering organizations including: past Board member and President of the Northwest Association of Forensic Scientists, past Board member and Secretary of the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors, past Treasurer and Chair of the Laboratory Accreditation Board, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Consortium of Forensic Science Organizations and the International Association of Chiefs’ of Police Forensic Science Committee.
In addition to serving on the Board of Directors of the NFSTC, Don is a member of the Finance and Audit Committee.
Carl M. Selavka, PhD, D-ABC (Forensic Analytical Chemist) **2008
Carl Selavka is a forensic scientist specializing in explosives, arson, and esoteric toxicology. He is currently serving as a consultative forensic specialist with a number of operational and academic agencies and programs. Carl left his post as Director of the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) Crime Laboratory System in March 2007 after almost nine years of service. He was responsible for the full service central laboratory in Sudbury, the satellite crime laboratories in Agawam, Danvers, and North Sudbury, and the DNA Databank for the Commonwealth.
Prior to joining the MSP in July 1998, Dr. Selavka spent two years as the Director of Forensic Services with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, where he worked with the state’s 25 public forensic science laboratories. In New Your, he helped the laboratories achieve accreditation and was responsible for the State DNA Databank and Forensic Science Commission. Carl also worked for five years as a Director at National Medical Services in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania and four years as an Operations Officer with the Army Forensic Toxicology Drug Testing Laboratory in Hawaii.
From 2002-2003, he served as a Senior Program Manager at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Office of Science & Technology. In this capactiy, Carl was responsible for $45MM+ in Cooperative Agreements within the Crime Laboratory Improvement Program and the coordination of NIJ Forensic Resource Network activities.
Carl attended Indiana University from 1978 to 1982, majoring in Chemistry and Forensic Studies. In 1987, he graduated with an MS and PhD in Forensic Chemistry from Northeastern University in Boston. Carl is past-President of the American Board of Criminalistics and is currently active with FEPAC, ASTM E-30, and the National Laboratory Certification Program for urine drug testing laboratories. His research and publications have focused on esoteric toxicology, bomb, and arson analysis, and laboratory leadership.
