First Place

Five Keystone College forensic biology students took top honors at the 95th annual meeting of the International Association for Identification (IAI) in Spokane, Wash., in July.

Students Brianna Cremard, Clarks Summit; Brianna Gieski, Montrose; Jillian YonKondy, West Pittston; and alumna Melissa Dutkevitch, Old Forge, participated in a crime scene investigation challenge, competing against some of the nation's top forensic investigators. Dutkevitch led the team to a first-place victory. She is a 2010 graduate of Keystone College's forensic biology program.

The team earned more than $6,500 in scholarships and prizes.

Dutkevitch received a cash prize for best student research poster for her work on development of latent prints on fired shell casings. Cremard, YonKondy, Dutkevitch and fellow student Deanna Miletta, Honesdale, also received competitive academic scholarships through the IAI's Johnson-Whyte Memorial Foundation Fund.

This marks the fourth time Keystone has competed in the event and the third time the team has achieved first-place honors, beating out a team fielded by the FBI in 2008. The Keystone team was trained by Tammy Barette, Ph.D., associate professor and forensic biology program coordinator. Barette is also a forensic anthropologist who serves as a member of the IAI's crime scene investigation subcommittee.

"We are very pleased to receive top honors in such a highly respected national forensics competition," Barette said. "The excellent performance by our students and by recent graduate Melissa Dutkevitch is indicative of the top quality forensics program we offer at Keystone."

The students also attended a variety of professional workshops throughout the week.

Sign up for Text Alerts

Sign up for e-mail newsletters