Mission
The mission of the Forensic Science Learning Lab [FSLL] is to provide education and training for TSU students traditional and non-traditional to prepare them for careers in the field of forensic science, and to provide training opportunities for current practitioners in the field to expand and update their knowledge and skills. An aspect of the FSLL is it remote and long distance capabilities. The center is design keeps in mind the importance of connectivity.
The Forensic Science Learning Lab has a distinguished faculty with wide-ranging research interests including drug and alcohol pharmacology, alcohol congener analysis, DNA comparison and analysis, courtroom ethics, digital forensics and firearms analysis and comparison. Faculty research provides students with an opportunity to examine recent developments on these and other contemporary justice issues and challenges in both the classroom and the community.
Objectives
Objectives of the Forensic Science Learning Lab
- Prepare students to serve as skilled forensic scientists at the local, state, and national level and international levels.
- To provide students with an understanding of legal and personal ethics.
- To prepare students to actively participate in legal proceedings as expert witnesses.
The goal of the Learning Lab staff is to prepare individuals with facts, concepts, and ideas, which will provide the skills necessary to think critically and ethically in applying knowledge to related problems and challenging situations. The curriculum and associated programs of the Forensic Science Learning Lab are intended to provide individuals with the skills and knowledge related to successful careers in any of the several disciplines of the forensic sciences, including toxicology, friction ridge analysis, digital media forensics, and DNA analysis. The program also prepares individuals for continuing education in graduate school and law school.
Environmental Career Worker Training Program
The ECWTP is funded through the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Since 2012, the program has been housed at the Barbara Jordan/Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs at Texas Southern University. The program here at Texas Southern University is part of a consortium which is led by the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice at Dillard University. The ECWTP recruits unemployed/underemployed women and men from Houston to attend a twelve weeks training program at Texas Southern University for career opportunities in the environmental or construction field. During the past four years, the program has trained 106 women and men. The program has a 92% job placement rate.