Jack Ballantyne is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at the University of Central Florida (UCF) and the Associate Director for Research at the National Center for Forensic Science in Orlando, Florida.  He possesses a B.Sc. (with Honours) in Biochemistry from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, a M.Sc. in Forensic Science from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland and a PhD in Genetics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, NY.  His current duties include teaching and conducting research in forensic molecular genetics.  He teaches a variety of forensic biology courses to baccalaureate and Masters level students in the Forensic Science Program and nucleic acid biochemistry to PhD students in the Biomolecular Sciences Program.

Prior to entering academia, he was a casework forensic scientist in Scotland, Hong Kong and New York where he proffered expert testimony in the criminal courts of these jurisdictions.  He was the full time DNA technical leader in Suffolk County, New York and since then has served as a part-time consultant DNA technical leader for the States of Mississippi and Delaware, the City of Dallas and Sedgwick County, Kansas.  Inter alia, he is the Chair of the New York State DNA Sub-committee, a regular visiting guest at the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM), a member of the DoD Quality Assurance Oversight Committee and was a member of the World Trade Center Kinship and Data Analysis Panel (KADAP).

His research interests include Y chromosome markers, the assessment and in vitro repair of damaged DNA templates, mRNA profiling for body fluid identification, the determination of physical characteristics by molecular genetic analysis and single cell/low copy number analysis.

Erin Hanson possesses a Bachelor of Science degree in Forensic Science, Biochemistry Track, and a Master of Science degree in Forensic Science, Biochemistry Track, from the University of Central Florida. Her graduate research included development and validation of novel Y chromosome STR multiplexes for use in forensic casework. A comprehensive annotated STR physical map of the human Y chromosome was also developed through this research and made available to the forensic community. Currently, Ms. Hanson is a PhD candidate in the Biomolecular Science Doctoral Program at the University of Central Florida, and her current research includes an assessment of damage and degradation to macromolecules in dried biological stains, and the use of laser capture microdissection and whole genome amplification strategies for the analysis of single cells.