May 2010 Presenter Biographies

Donna C. Boyd (Ph. D., D-ABFA)
Professor and Head of Anthropological Sciences; Co-Director, Radford University Forensic Science Institute; adjunct member, Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (Western District).  Dr. Boyd is a Board-Certified Forensic Anthropologist who has taught at Radford University for 20 years and recently (2006) received the Carnegie/CASE U. S . Professor of the Year award as well as the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia’s Outstanding Professor of the Year award.  She has completed over 50 forensic cases in consultation with the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and  is assisting this office with their NIJ grant on Using DNA to Identify the Missing (cold cases).  She also regularly accepts cases involving the identification and analysis of prehistoric and historic human remains. Her current research focus includes the effect of perimortem trauma on decomposition and Time Since Death as well as the skeletal signatures of slavery in historic Virginia populations.  She, along with her husband, received a two year grant in 2009 from NIJ to sponsor a series of workshops entitled “Innovations in Forensic Science.”

C. Clifford (Cliff) Boyd (Ph. D.)
Professor of Anthropological Sciences; Co-Director, Radford University Forensic Science Institute; adjunct member, Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (Western District).  Dr. Boyd is an Archaeologist (specializing in Forensic Archaeology) who has taught at Radford University for over 24 years and recently (2008) received the State Council of Higher Education of Virginia’s Outstanding Professor of the Year award.  He, in conjunction with his wife, have completed over 50 forensic cases in consultation with the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and regularly conducts training workshops for law enforcement in Search, Recovery and Excavation of covert burials.  He also conducts field investigations of prehistoric and historic archaeological sites for cultural resource management interests.  His current research focus is the application of archaeological and anthropological theory to Forensic Anthropology.

Tod Burke (Ph. D.)
Professor of Criminal Justice, Radford University.  Dr. Burke received his Master’s in Forensic Science from George Washington University in 1984, and his Master’s in Philosophy and Ph. D. in Criminal Justice from City University of New York/John Jay College of Criminal Justice in 1990 and 1991, respectively.  Dr. Burke is a specialist in Homicide Investigations and is regularly called upon to speak on the topic of Violent Crimes.  He has taught at Radford University since 1995.

Leah Bush (M. D.)
Chief Medical Examiner, Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and Chair, Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Legal Medicine.  Dr. Bush received her undergraduate degrees in Biology and Psychology from Virginia Tech, her Master’s Degree in Biology from Virginia Commonwealth University, and her M. D. from Medical College of Virginia. She completed her residency in Pathology at the Medical College of Virginia and completed a Fellowship with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond.  She is Board Certified in Anatomic Pathology, Clinical Pathology, and Forensic Pathology. Dr. Bush has worked in the Virginia Office of the Chief Medical Examiner system (either as Assistant or Deputy Chief) since 1986, serving as Chief Medical Examiner for the state since 2008.

Diane Catley (M. F. S.)
Forensic Science Group Supervisor, Virginia Department of Forensic Science, Western District, Roanoke, Virginia.  Ms. Catley received a Master’s in Forensic Science from George Washington University in 1983 and has been a forensic scientist with the Virginia Department of Forensic Science for over 14 years, specializing in Controlled Substances.  She is a Certified Technical Advisor for ASCLAD-LAB.  She served as an Instructor for the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine (for post-graduate Fellows in drug analysis) in 2006 and an Instructor of Forensic Chemistry at Radford University from 1989 – 1995. She is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Association of Forensic Scientists and the CLIC-Clandestine Laboratory Investigating Chemists Association.

Jon Cromer (B. S.)
Special Agent for the Virginia State Police, Bureau of Criminal Investigations, Violent Crimes Unit, ICIAF Criminal Profiler Understudy.  Mr. Cromer received his B. S. degree from Radford University in 1990 and was employed as a Patrol Officer with the Radford City Police Department from 1991-1992.  He is also a graduate of the Cardinal Criminal Justice Academy (1991) and the Virginia Forensic Science Academy (2000).  From 2003 – 2006, he served as Adjunct Faculty at Blue Ridge Community College, teaching courses on Death Investigation and Deviant Criminal Sexuality.  Since 1996, Special Agent Cromer has primarily investigated cases involving Death, Missing Persons, Sexual Assault, Rape, and Police-Involved Shooting.  He has also performed duties associated with Crime Scene Examination and Hostage/Crisis Negotiation.  Agent Cromer has been a VA Department of Criminal Justice Services Instructor since 1995 and routinely provides instruction to law enforcement officers, medical professionals, and prosecutors throughout Virginia.  As part of the ICIAF Criminal Profiler Understudy process, Agent Cromer has traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada providing training and working with other behavioral analysts.

Rhett Herman (Ph. D.)
Professor of Physics, Radford University.  Dr. Herman received his doctorate in Physics from Montana State and is a specialist in geophysical remote sensing.  He has conducted research on depth of sea ice in Barrow, Alaska, as well as the use of the Ground Penetrating Radar on archaeological sites in Alaska, Virginia, and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands.  He has taught Physics and Astronomy at Radford University for 14 years.

Joe Keiper (Ph. D.)
Director, Virginia Museum of Natural History. Before coming to the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville in 2009, Dr. Keiper served as Curator of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History Insect collection.  He also assisted the Cuyahoga County Coroner’s office as a Forensic Entomology consultant.  His research interests include Forensic Entomology and the effect of body movement on decomposition.

Emil Moldovan (M. S., M. P. A.)
Adjunct Instructor, Department of Criminal Justice, Radford University.  Mr. Moldovan  received his Master of Public Administration degree from California State University Northridge and his Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from California State University, Los  Angeles.  He received certification in Medical Investigation (Level III) from the American College of Forensic Examiners and is a Diplomat of the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators and the College of Forensic Examiners Institute.  He served as a Police Officer with the Arcadia, California, police force from 1975 – 1989, as a supervisor with the Los Angeles County Fire Department from 1989 – 1999, and as a Lieutenant (Supervising Coroner Investigator) with the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner/Coroner from 1999 to 2006.  Mr. Moldovan has taught courses in Forensic Science (including Death Investigation) at Radford University since 2007.

Kevin Patrick (B. S.)
Director, Virginia Department of Forensic Science, Western Laboratory.  Mr. Patrick received his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminalistics from Weber State University, Ogden, Utah and has been director of the Virginia Department of Forensic Science, Western, since 2004.  Prior to this, he was Supervising Criminalist (Identification Section and Serology) of the Utah State Crime Lab.  He has specialized training in Latent Fingerprints/Impressions, Bloodstain Pattern, Crime Scene Photography, Forensic Biology, and Trace Evidence. He is a Certified Bloodstain Pattern Analyst (International Association for Identification), Certified Footwear Examiner (International Association for Identification) and is a member of the Certified D. E. A./U. D. I. Clandestine Laboratory Response Team.  He received the Commissioner’s Commendation in 2002-2003.

Robert Sheehy (Ph. D.)
Professor of Biology, Radford University.  Bob received his B.S. in Biology from Eastern Oregon State College, and his Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Arizona. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Molecular Systematics and Evolution at the University of Arizona before becoming a faculty member at Radford University in 1996.  Bob’s research interests include the effects of life histories and landscape on gene flow in Plethodontid salamanders, the phylogeny of the Falconiformes, and wildlife forensics.  Bob has taught courses in Genetics, Evolutionary Biology, Bioinformatics, Molecular Ecology, Conservation Biology and Ornithology.

Prem Uppuluri (Ph. D.)
Assistant Professor, Radford University Department of Information Technology.  Dr. Uppuluri received his M. S. in Computer Science from Iowa State University and his Ph. D. in Computer Science from Stony Brook University, New York.  He has taught courses in  Computer Science and Digital Forensics at Radford University since 2006; previous to this, he was an Assistant Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the University of Missouri and worked for Telcordia Technologies (formerly BellCore) in New Jersey.  His research specialty is Computer Security and Digital Forensics.