Wildlife Forensic Resources - Groups and Work Products

As a branch of forensic science, it is essential that wildlife forensic casework is performed to recognised standards that meet the criteria for generating evidence that is admissible in court.  Since its inception, the Society has invested a great deal of time in developing a range of resources that describe minimum standards in wildlife forensics and support practitioners in achieving best practice.  This includes a set of written Standards and Guidelines, an individual Certification Scheme and a laboratory Proficiency Testing scheme.

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The Society for Wildlife Forensic Sciences operates a Technical Working Group (TWG) that is responsible for developing and disseminating advice on technical issues, including quality assurance in wildlife forensics.  The group is currently chaired by Dr Greta Frankham (Australia) and is composed of SWFS members spanning a range of technical and geographic backgrounds.

The TWG replaces part of the function of SWGWILD, the Scientific Working Group on Wildlife Forensics which operated from 2009-2016.  SWGWILD produced a series of work products including a Wildlife Forensics White Paper.

Within the USA, the Organization of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC), established in 2014, is now responsible for coordinating and harmonizing US-focused wildlife forensic standards, through wildlife forensics sub-committee of the Biology Scientific Area Committee (SAC).

These groups, together with external contributors, have produced resources for wildlife forensic scientists that are available to download below.

  1. SWFS Standards and Guidelines version 3 (TWG, Nov 2018)
  2. Wildlife Forensic Scientist Certification Scheme (SWGWILD, 2013)
  3. Scientific Working Group for Wildlife Forensic Science white paper (SWGWILD, 2012)
  4. Certificate of Scientific Exchange (COSE)-Application and Process- COSE Guidelines