Regional forensics center could open in Ames

Iowa State University’s Institute for Physical Research and Technology is trying to establish a center to help investigators in Iowa and other midwestern states solve crimes. IPRT (eye-pert) scientist Shelley Coldiron says they want to use their resources to help crime labs process evidence. She says they want to set up a regional forensics center that can help Iowa and other states.Coldiron says they’ve already done some work with the F-B-I and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. She says investigators in other states all say they have the same problems, an overload of casework that doesn’t give them time to research new tools.Coldiron says they would also like the forensic center to develop a program to teach forensic science to college students. Coldiron says IPRT’s researchers can adapt many of their techniques to be used in the forensic field.Coldiron says they’ve recieved 44-thousand dollars in “seed money” from IPRT to see if they can get the forensics center established.Coldiron says they hope to draw funding for the center from the federal government and the various states involved.