Monday, October 26, 2009

A producer and camera crew from CBS News' 48 Hours investigative program shot footage in Westminster College's Chemistry Department in September.

Two very brief clips from the filming session aired as part of the Oct. 17 48 Hours Mystery coverage of the Caylee Anthony murder case in Florida. Additional footage may be used next summer when the case goes to trial. Boylan and the Westminster College Department of Chemistry were included in the show's credits.

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) was used for forensics analysis related to the Anthony investigation, but those involved in that case could not discuss it. A 48 Hours producer found the research abstract of 2009 Westminster biochemistry graduate Mallory Lichwa's LIBS project online. The project, which Lichwa presented at a research conference, involved the forensics analysis of fingernail polish using LIBS.

Lichwa, a graduate of Yough High School, is a daughter of Michael and Amy Lichwa of West Newton and a granddaughter of Genevieve Ewig of Greensburg and Margaret Lichwa of West Newton. She is planning to pursue a master's degree in education to become a high school chemistry teacher.

The producer contacted Lichwa's research mentor, Dr. Helen Boylan, Westminster associate professor of chemistry, to discuss the technique and later arrange a visit.

The film crew created a set surrounding the LIBS instrumentation, supplied by Dan Willoughby of D&N Scientific, in a back laboratory of the chemistry department and shot footage of Boylan and Lichwa using it.

Boylan and junior chemistry major Nathan Barefoot demonstrated headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, another technique related to the Anthony case, on film.

Barefoot is a son of Deborah Barefoot of Huntingdon and a graduate of Huntingdon Area High School.

Boylan, a 1995 Westminster graduate who joined the faculty in 2001, earned a Ph.D. from Duquesne University.

Contact Boylan at (724) 946-6293 or e-mail boylanhm@westminster.edu for additional information. Visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/wcn247/sets/72157622587053980/show/ to view photos from the filming.

About Westminster College...
Founded in 1852 and related to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Westminster College is a top tier liberal arts college and a national leader in graduation rate performance, according to U.S. News Guide to America's Best Colleges. Westminster ranked third among liberal arts colleges in social mobility, according to the Washington Monthly College Guide, and is one of the most affordable national liberal arts colleges in Pennsylvania. Westminster is also honored as one of "The Best 371 Colleges" and "Best in the Northeast" by The Princeton Review, and is named to the President's Honor Roll for excellence in service learning.

Nearly 1,600 undergraduate and graduate students benefit from individualized attention from dedicated faculty while choosing from 41 majors and nearly 100 organizations on the New Wilmington, Pa., campus.