Fingerprints. Eyewitness accounts. Bite marks. All suspect?
Social Ecology alumna Erin Morris is featured in The California Sunday magazine for being the first behavioral sciences research analyst for the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office. Written by Erika Hayasaki, Associate Professor of Literary Journalism at UCI, this article features Morris's challenges and successes as a research analyst as she champions for science in court proceedings.
From The California Sunday:
“Their deputies were just being overwhelmed by science and social-science evidence,” [William] Thompson recalls. “They kept saying, ‘We wish we could have you or some of your students work with us all of the time.’” Thompson thought Morris was the ideal candidate if the office wanted to create the position. “She has this fascination with cases, and she really likes to get into the details,” he says. “She likes to break things down and figure out what the strengths and weaknesses are.”
Photo Credit: Dru Donovan, visiting lecturer at Harvard University