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PROFESSIONAL STATUS
The most current worldwide directory of forensic entomologists listed a total of 62 scientists involved in this field of study. Of these, 33 (53 percent) were linked solely with the "medicolegal" subdiscipline, and an additional five (eight percent listed "medicolegal" entomology as one of their forensic specialties). Most (44 percent of the total) were affiliated with colleges or universities, taught entomology or biology and performed research or worked with the Cooperative Extension Service. A few conducted research primarily on medicocriminal entomological subjects. A significant number (35 percent) functioned as consultants working for private industry, being self employed, or having retired from previous employment in entomology. U.S. medicocriminal entomologists who were members of the Entomological Society of America (the scientific "society" of entomologists in the U.S.) were generally affiliated with Section D (Medical and Veterinary Entomology) of that organization. Only about 39 percent of such U.S. workers were members of the American Registry of Professional Entomologists (ARPE), the formal organization comprised of professional entomologists (now known as Board Certified Entomologists), and still fewer are members of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. Following the lead of physicians (who draw their professional identity from the American Medical Association), attorneys (who have the American Bar Association), and other professionals, it will become increasingly necessary for medicocriminal entomologists to affiliate through a professional organization with strict educational, ethical and maintenance standards. Facilitation of qualification as expert witnesses is one reason for encouraging such a connection. The American Board of Forensic Entomology (ABFE) constitutes the first step toward such professionalism. Exhibiting strigency commensurate with the medical and legal arenas, achieving status as Diplomate, ABFE, requires the applicant to possess an earned Ph.D. and appropriate experience, credentials far in excess of those demanded by other certification efforts in entomology. Most (82 percent) current medicocriminal entomologists hold an earned Ph.D. degree or its equivalent (Lord and Stevenson 1986). The remainder possess M.S. or M.D. degrees. Given the requirement for demonstrating "expertness' as part of the medicocriminal procedure, it is likely that an earned Ph.D. with emphasis in cogent areas of medical entomology, taxonomy and allied disciplines will remain essential. The possibility of combining graduate entomological education in the medicocriminal field with ancillary professional medical or legal degrees remains largely unexploited. One compelling reason for this may be that, at present, few entomologists worldwide are employed fulltime as medicocriminal experts. In at least one instance, an individual with prior training in criminology entered a graduate program with emphasis on medicocriminal entomology, and one medicocriminal entomologist developed credentials as an attorney. Although the situation may be changing slowly, medicocriminal entomologists are seldom included on routine crime scene investigation teams. Whether this has occurred because such specialists are rare, because their presence is inconvenient or impractical, or because their area of expertise is not appreciated fully for either its uniqueness or potential contribution to forensic pathology is immaterial. A major result has been that an important responsibility of medicocriminal entomologists consists of training crime scene technicians and allied personnel to recognize, obtain, and properly preserve entomological evidence. The entomologist then reviews such evidence and often provides expert assistance if entomological data appear crucial to the case. Important to the latter function are eventual qualification as an expert witness, the increased professional status of entomologists toward that end, a facility with courtroom protocol, and a fee structure related to this effort. Most up-to-date investigative units acknowledge in their standard operating procedures (SOP's) the potential for acquisition of entomological evidence. The purpose of the Procedural Guide is to facilitate that objective. |
For more information on certification as Diplomate, ABFE, click: 
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Please contact Dr. Richard Merritt for more information on certification as Diplomate , American Board of Forensic Entomologists:
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Richard W. Merritt, Ph.D. Department of Entomology Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 48824 (517) 355-8309 (517) 353-4354 (fax) merrittr@msu.edu |
