The Basics of Investigating Forensic Science: A Laboratory Manual

Kathy Mirakovits is a retired high school teacher of forensic science and physics. She currently teaches

forensic science and physics at Kalamazoo Valley Community College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Kathy

holds an MS in science education from Western Michigan University, a bachelor’s degree in science education

from Miami University, and has completed over 15 graduate hours in forensic science. She has taught

general science, physical science, chemistry, biology, earth science, and physics at the high school and twoyear

college level for a total of 30 years. Additionally, Kathy conducts workshops across the United States

for teachers who wish to learn the application of forensic science in a school curriculum. Information on

those workshops can be found at her website: www .forensicscience -ed .com. She has developed numerous

forensic science educational products for a national science supplier and has led workshops at the National

Science Teachers Association (NSTA) in forensic science.

Kathy has served as president of the Michigan Chapter of the American Association of Physics Teachers

(AAPT) and as a curriculum writer for the Michigan Department of Education. Kathy has served as the

high school director and the membership director for the Michigan Science Teachers Association. She has

received the RadioShack Science Teaching Award and has been a two-time state finalist for the Presidential

Award for Excellence in Math and Science Teaching (PAEMST).

Gina Londino-Smolar earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Ball State University in Muncie,

Indiana. She then attended graduate school at Purdue University, Indianapolis, where she earned a master’s

degree in chemistry. While in graduate school, her main focus was in forensic analysis of pigmented ink

using pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Gina is currently a senior lecturer in the Department

of Chemistry and Chemical Biology teaching in the Forensic and Investigative Sciences program at Indiana

University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, where she has been teaching introductory courses in forensic

science, forensic chemistry, and forensic microscopy since 2006. She has designed multiple courses in

forensic science, including a variety of beginner-to-advanced laboratory exercises. Gina also serves as a faculty

fellow with Teaching and Learning Technologies at Indiana University and has been directly involved

in designing online content for both credit and non-credit courses. Gina has created multiple online courses

in forensic science, both lecture and laboratory, in order to reach out to other student populations and uses

the universal design for learning. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS)

and a member and 2021-2023 president of the Council of Forensic Science Educators (COFSE).