Camp instructor Dave Maze. (Photo supplied by Lethbridge College)

By Justin Goulet

Lethbridge College hosting Forensic Explorers camp this summer

Jun 29, 2022 | 9:27 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Lethbridge College is hosting a camp for young detectives this summer.

The Forensics Explorers camp sessions will teach participants how to survey a crime scene through the eyes of a forensic scientist.

Camp instructor Dave Maze is a Justice Studies instructor at the college and is a former police officer who spent several years working in the Forensics Unit of the Lethbridge Police Service (LPS). Additionally, Maze taught the forensics course when it was offered at the college over a decade ago.

Maze said that “forensics is all about matching.”

“TV and movies make it seem like a complex science, but we’ve got a lot of fun activities planned to teach the basics,” Maze added.

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Some of the planned activities include dusting for fingerprints, transferring fingerprints to index cards, lifting footprints and making impression castings with plaster and biofoam.

Example of equipment to be used by camp attendees. (Photo supplied by Lethbridge College)

Maze said, “With biofoam, we can take a suspect’s shoe and press it down to form a three-dimensional impression.”

“Then, we can cast it or photograph it and make a comparison to what we found at the crime scene.”

Participants will also be able to work with a compound microscope to successfully match evidence that may not be visible to the human eye.

Example of a microscope participants will be able to use at the camp. (Photo supplied by Lethbridge College)

After spending the first four days of the camp learning various forensic science techniques, attendees will use the fifth and final day to work through a mock crime scene. Maze explained that they will gather evidence, lift fingerprints and look for footprints.

He said, “We’ll set it up so they can apply their new skills in a simulated real-world environment.”

There are two Forensic Explorers camps being offered this summer at Lethbridge College. The first session is July 11 to 15, 2022 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. each day, with the second session taking place July 18 to 22, 2022.

More information on the Forensic Explorers camp, as well as others offered at the post-secondary institution, is available at the Lethbridge College website.

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