Welcome to the MNIAI website!

Chartered in 1964, the Minnesota Division of the International Association for Identification (MNIAI) holds an annual educational conference devoted to continuing education for the forensic sciences, crime scene investigation and identification fields. Typically held in the fall, the conference is two days long.

Job opportunity with
​Anoka County Sheriff's Office

Please see these links for the
Forensic Scientist 1 and Forensic Scientist II postings
that close on 4/3/2023

2023 Educational Conference News!
​Save the dates!

LOCATION: The Inn on Lake Superior, 350 Canal Park Drive, Duluth, MN 55802
PHONE: (218) 726-1111 - tell them you are with the MNIAI conference when you                   reserve your sleeping room
DATES: October 4-6
HOTEL SLEEPING ROOMS - SPECIAL MNIAI RATES:
2 Queens Pool-view: $174.99 + tax
2 Queens/Sofa Sleeper Cityview: $181.99 + tax
2 Queens/Sofa Sleeper Bridgeview Balcony: $187.99 + tax
King/Sofa Sleeper Bridgeview Balcony: $187.99 + tax
2 Queens Lakeview: $195.99 + tax
King/Sofa Sleeper Lakeview: $195.99 + tax
2 Queens/Sofa Sleeper Lakeview: $199.99 + tax

Sleeping room reservations at the Inn on Lake Superior must be made no later than September 4.

Registration for the conference is now available!
Click this link to go to the Conference Registration page or click the tab above.
​
Course offerings, so far:

Noreen Charlton, Product Marketing Manager at FARO                                            Topic: 2017 Las Vegas Mass Shooting

Mark Ulrick, Quality Administrator Minneapolis PD Forensics Division and co-presenter Chris Boeckers, Former FBI
Topic: Case Study

Aaron Zirzow, Forensic Scientist, Minneapolis Forensics Division                            Topic: Ghost Guns, Auto Switches, etc..

N. Scott Henderson, Technical Lead Latent Prints Section, Midwest Regional Forensic Laboratory
Topic: Trajectory

David Ligneel, Sergeant, Robbery Unit of the Minneapolis PD and FBI Violent Crimes Task Force Officer
Topic: Carjacking and Auto Theft Trends, Including Kia and Hyundai

Jamie Mosley, Counselor, Conscious Healing Counseling                                        Topic: Mental Health Concerns in the Law Enforcement Field

Tonya Lindbery and Jessica Hunt, Forensic Scientists, MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension
Topic: TBD

Check out President Richsmann's President's Message.
Register today for the Pittcon, the world’s premier conference on laboratory science, where ANAB will be presenting three training courses:
​Held Mar 18-22 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA. Pittcon is a transnational conference and exposition on laboratory science where attendees can keep up with the latest developments in scientific instrumentation, network with other professionals, and find continuing learning opportunities. It is relevant to anyone who develops, buys, or sells laboratory equipment, performs physical or chemical analyses, develops analysis methods, or manages these scientists.

You can register for Pittcon here. Please forward this information to any parties you think may be interested in attending.
2022 Educational Conference Photos!
Photos compliments of Janet Nelson. All rights reserved.

And now...a word from one of our Sponsors

                      We're on Facebook!
  • Click the Facebook icon found in the upper right corner of this page.
  • Log into Facebook. (The group name is Minnesota Division of the International Association for Identification).
  • Click the 'join' button. You'll be asked to answer two questions in order to join the group.​ ​
​                                        Check it out!

MNIAI Charter Member, past MNIAI President,
​Secretary/Treasurer and Historian
and past IAI President (1970-71)
John Douthit passed away on May 15, 2019; one month and a day
​after his 99th birthday.
John was the oldest living member of
both the MNIAI and the IAI.
Rest in Peace, John

MNIAI Online Store

MNIAI Challenge Coin
                                 Heads                            Tails
MNIAI Coin

News and Info From the IAI

Begun in 1915, the International Association for Identification (IAI) is the oldest forensic science organization in the United States and one of the oldest in the world. The IAI is dedicated to the development of the forensic sciences and to the continued education and certification of practicing forensic scientists and crime scene investigators.
Past IAI President Janice "Jan" Marie Johnson passes away. Click here for the article by IDNews editor, Jon Stimac.
Click below for a detailed PDF document regarding
​
Latent Black Box 2022 Request for Participation

A word from IDentification News Editor, John Stimac

Please see the below message from IDNews Editor, Jon Stimac.  If you or anyone in your division would like to submit you can find submission instructions here: https://www.theiai.org/id_news.php 
 
Be well and reach out with any needs,
​Kelly Ayers, IAI Division Representative

​
Here is your initial notification that if you are planning on submitting an article for the next issue of IDentifcation News, I will need your submission before March 1.
 
ID News is published on a quarterly basis; therefore, this next issue will be for April/May/June 2023.
 
For those of you overseeing IAI Committees or Boards, please once again communicate with your respective chairs and secretaries about the importance of disseminating any developments and/or changes via ID News!
 
For your convenience, the following is a working schedule for each quarterly issue of ID News:
 
Issue 1 Jan/Feb/Mar deadline for submissions: December 1
Issue 2 Apr/May/Jun    deadline for submissions: March 1
Issue 3 Jul/Aug/Sep     deadline for submissions: June 1
Issue 4 Oct/Nov/Dec   deadline for submissions: September 1
 
Technical notes: Approximately 520 of your typed words are equivalent to 1 full page within ID News. If your submission includes photos, please send each separately from your article.
 
As always, I greatly appreciate your continued assistance!
 
Regards, 
Jon Stimac, Editor

The IAI 
2023 Educational Conference News 

Call for Presentations!

The online submission for Lecture, Workshop, and Poster proposals is OPEN!

The IAI conference will be held in National Harbor, Maryland
Aug 20th, through Aug 26th, 2023.
 
Do you have a great case or research project that you would be willing to share? How about a management strategy or casework technique you have worked hard to develop? Do you have a skill that those new in the field could practice, or a new way of doing something that all professionals should hear about? 

If so, It is time to submit your idea to the IAI for consideration as a presentation to be included in the 2023 IAI Educational Conference.
• Consider a lecture if your information can be shared visually in 30-60 minutes.
• Consider a workshop if your information is best conveyed through hands-on experience in 2-4 hours.
• Consider a poster if you are more comfortable having one-on-one discussions with attendees about your information and/or for topics with a very specific focus.
 
Lectures and Workshops proposals may be submitted until Febuary 10th, 2023.
Posters may be submitted until July 14th, 2023.

For more information regarding, Lectures, Workshops, and Posters/Photos Contest, go to the IAI 2023 Conference Page. 
  
Book your hotel now!

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES YOU CAN ENGAGE IN IS PASSING YOUR KNOWLEDGE ON TO OTHERS!

IAI Forms the Division Interaction and
​Affairs Committee

​My dear friends and fellow members of the Minnesota Division of the IAI,

The IAI has decided to make the “Division Affairs Committee” a permanent standing committee, per the By-laws:
 
Section 8.20 Division Interaction & Affairs Committee.
(a.) Purpose. This committee shall advise the President on the support of and advocacy with the
divisions.
 
(b.) Composition. The committee shall consist of an odd number of members with a minimum of three
(3) to a maximum of seven (7) members. The Chairperson shall be the Division Representative. All other
members shall be appointed by the President by October 1 after assuming office. The term of
appointment for the appointed members shall last until September 30.
(c.) Voting. All the members of the committee, to include the Chairperson, shall have the right to vote at committee meetings.
(d.) Other duties. The Committee shall perform such other duties as the President shall prescribe.
  
2022-2023 Appointed members
Kelly Ayers, WV, USA - Chair                 
Larry Stringham, FL, USA      
Mike Wisniewski, OH, USA
Jason Cole, VA, USA
Brian Dew, NC, USA
Penny Dechant, AZ, USA
Kasey Gizler, PA, USA

 It is my pleasure to have the Minnesota Division to be one of my appointed Divisions to provide outreach too as a member of this committee.
 
As you can see, the Division Representative (Kelly Ayers) has been assigned as the chairperson for this committee and appreciates your communication with her to include completing the yearly survey of your Division operations, as it is shared with the IAI Board of Directors and Officers at the yearly IAI conference.  As the chairperson, Kelly is always happy to provide any communications between the IAI and your Division. Also, as your assigned committee member, I hope to add a more personal touch providing you with any assistance and being an advocate for your concerns to the IAI parent body. Please feel free to reach out to either of us at any time to assist the Minnesota Division in any way we can.                       
 
So, what’s new?
With the success of the Inaugural 5k Race/ Fun Run in Omaha, we were able to make a little bit of money to give back to the Divisions.  While my initial intention was to assist some Divisions in having a representative attend the IAI Annual Conference, it was thought these funds could better assist the Divisions as their needs dictate. It maybe a few hundred dollars to bring in a special speaker to your conference, or maybe cover a loss due to unforeseen circumstances like COVID, Hurricanes or other natural disasters.  Using these funds as more of a pool of money that Divisions can request similar to a Grant process to further your Division in whatever your needs. The process to get these funds is still TBD but we are hoping to have guidance before the new calendar year.
 
We are currently working with the Chesapeake Bay Division to plan another 5k Fundraiser at next year’s conference In National Harbor.  With a more extensive planning timeframe, we are hoping to get more sponsorships and awareness.  We still attempt to keep the costs down for participants and want to make sure our liabilities and required cost don’t outweigh the benefits, so this event is still tentative.
 
At the same time we are attempting to be creative and come up with other fundraising ideas such as “dunk your favorite/or not so favorite, IAI personality” in a dunk tank at the conference.  Your input is important to us and we appreciate any constructive feedback or ideas.
 
So what’s been done?
Beyond monetary support, we are still interested in your concerns and ways to improve the IAI/ Division relationship.  In the past year we have also taken the feedback from so many of the Divisions by adding links to how a Division can apply to host the International conference on the conference website, https://www.theiai.org/conference.php

If a Division wants to consider hosting an IAI conference in the future… https://www.theiai.org/docs/Annual_IAI_International_Educational_ConferenceR.pdf
 
In addition, the IAI Conference Planner, Candy Murray has offered her services to assist any divisions by reviewing any hotel/conference center contracts and provide guidance back to your division.  She can be reached at: iaiconferenceplanner@theiai.org. The IAI Educational planner Heather Connor is also available to provide suggestions for your speaker program: iaiedplanner@theiai.org
 
Hopefully the fact that this Special Subcommittee has become a Standing Committee is also a demonstration of the IAIs dedication to improving your Division.
 
I look forward to continuing assisting your Division in the coming year.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out with and questions, concerns or comments.  I will always do whatever I can to assist your Division.
 
All the best,
Jason Cole