Recurring Scientist:
Dr. Joy Halverson
Director and Senior Scientist, QuestGen Forensics, Davis, CA.
Dr. Halverson is the world's foremost expert on animal DNA forensics. She completed her masters and doctoral degrees in veterinary medicine and epidemiology at the University of California, Davis, and spent several years as a clinician and researcher. In 1989, Dr. Halverson founded Zoogen, Inc., where she introduced her "Sex Made Easy" DNA test for zoo and companion birds. This test determined a bird's gender without resorting to surgery, which was previously the only definitive means of identifying a bird's sex, and proved wildly popular among bird devotees.
She sold the business in 1996 to Celera AgGen, a plant and human genomics company, but remained on staff as a senior scientist. It was then that she took on her first criminal forensics case, including the first case in the U.S. to allow animal DNA testimony. She became highly sought after by investigators from all over the U.S., Great Britain, and Canada as an expert witness on veterinary forensics. Dr. Halverson's criminal work was so in demand that she began a new business, QuestGen Forensics, in 2001. She has testified in several dozen trials and admissibility hearings, and has provided some of the most crucial proof needed to send dangerous and violent criminals to prison.
Featured Scientists and Specialists:
Dr. Stephen O’Brien
Chief of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity and Head of the Section of Genetics at the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD.
Dr. O'Brien has studied feline genetics for more than 20 years and led the forensic investigation into the first criminal case in the world to use animal DNA. His skill in mapping feline genes made him perfectly suited for the job.
Dr. Jane MacMillan-Bondt
Veterinarian, Summerside Animal Hospital
Dr. MacMillan-Bondt is a veterinarian and life long animal lover. Bondt studied veterinary medicine at Ontario Veterinarian College and was instrumental in collecting evidence from a cat for the first-ever criminal case in the world to use animal DNA.
Dr. Marilyn Menotti-Raymond
Staff Scientist, Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the National Cancer Institute, Frederick, MD.
Dr. Menotti-Raymond obtained a Ph.D. in the Biology Department of Syracuse University studying the evolution and regulation of gene expression in Drosophila. Her work with the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity at the National Cancer Institute was instrumental in the first use of animal DNA in a criminal case.
Dr. Teri Kun
Forensic Expert, Veterinary Genetics Laboratory at the University of California, Davis
Teri Kun has a degree in both Molecular Biology and Chemistry from California State University at Sacramento. She began working at UC Davis in the Veterinary Genetics
Dr. Chris Pinney
Veterinarian and Animal Behaviorist
Dr. Chris C. Pinney, D.V.M., has authored several books, including German Shorthaired Pointers, A Complete Pet Owners Manual. Pinney has also served as veterinary host and advisor for television news magazines and syndicated radio talk shows. He practices veterinary medicine in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Joni McClain
Dallas County Deputy Chief Medical Examiner
Dr. Joni McClain is the Deputy Chief Medical Examiner at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas, Texas. Her experience with post mortem analysis has led to her aptitude for homicide forensics, most notably in the case of removing trace evidence from a pet Cockatoo named Bird. The bird provided key evidence in the murder of his owner, Kevin Butler. (seen in Episode 106).
Chris Brown
Curator of Birds, The Dallas Zoo
Chris Brown is an ornithologist for the Dallas Zoo specializing in bird behavior including natural history and classification. He has a background dealing in bird species of all kinds, but it was his experience with Cockatoo taxonomy that became a key asset for prosecution in the Kevin Butler murder case (seen in Episode 106), when establishing the strong relationship between Butler and Bird, and Bird's willingness to defend his owner.
Dr. Steve Fain
Director of DNA, Fish & Wildlife Service Forensic Laboratory, Ashland, OR
Dr. Fain trained as a molecular biologist and worked his way up the ranks of the Fish & Wildlife Service's forensic lab, the only lab in the world focused solely on solving wildlife crimes. His DNA testing work has been instrumental in delivering key pieces of evidence in major environmental cases, including the Operation SnowPlow tiger smuggling ring.
Dr. Bonnie Yates
Senior Forensics Scientist, Fish & Wildlife Service Forensic Laboratory, Ashland, OR
Dr. Yates is a former beauty-school dropout and high-school English teacher who began her career by washing bones in a college archaeology department. Today she spends her time examining hide, teeth, claws, fur and other vertebrate anatomy as a crime-solving morphologist. She analyzes the markings, size, patterns and distinctive physical characteristics of animal evidence against animal "standards" to catch poachers, smugglers and other wildlife criminals.
Dr. Lynn Kimsey
Director, R.M. Bohart Museum of Entomology at the University of California, Davis
Dr, Lynn Kimsey, Ph.D. is a professor and directs one of the world’s largest insect museums at the University of California, Davis. She works with more than seven million specimens. Though she had previously performed forensic entomology analysis for consumer product contamination cases, she had never been called on to analyze criminal evidence until investigators lugged a Dodge Neon’s radiator and air filter into her office. She was asked to find out how far west the car had been driven, she and her colleagues spent several hours carefully picking off whole insects and insect parts. Dr. Kimsey was called to testify for the prosecution in the case against Vincent Brothers who alledgedly murdered her his wife, their kids and his wife’s mom. This was the first capital murder case to use entomological evidence in this manner. (This case will be featured in an upcoming episode of Animal Witness.)
Dr. Mike Murray
Staff Veterinarian, Monterey Bay Aquarium
After graduating from the Purdue University School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Murray served a six-year tour of duty in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps. He subsequently worked in private practice with both domestic pets and exotic animals, and became the staff vet at the Aquarium in 1988. He is a two-time winner of the Monterey County SPCA's Humanitarian of the Year award. Dr. Murray supported the work of wildlife agents in nursing stolen leopard sharks back to health and releasing them back into the ocean.
