National Institute of Justice awards research assistantship to doctoral student in cyber forensics

Danielle CrimminsThe National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has awarded a research assistantship to Danielle Crimmins, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Computer and Information Technology chaired by Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar, assistant professor of computer and information technology.

Crimmins will work in the NIJ’s digital forensics and multimedia analysis program to research the impact of digital forensics on prosecution outcomes and the prevalence of its use in courts as evidence.

Crimmins earned a master’s degree in cyber forensics from Purdue and a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Alabama. She also worked as a crime intelligence technician at the Florida Department of Financial Services.

 “The NIJ said they were looking for someone interested in studying how digital forensic evidence influences the courtroom, and this happens to be Danielle’s dissertation topic of interest,” said Seigfried-Spellar. “It was a highly competitive assistantship, and I knew that Danielle would represent our program and college well.”

Marcus Rogers, professor and head of the Department of Computer and Information Technology, also supported Crimmins’ nomination.

“Cyber forensics is still a relatively new field, and it’s being used increasingly in court for a wide variety of cases,” Rogers said. “Danielle has the right background for this opportunity, and we were confident that the NIJ would recognize how qualified she is to do this research.”

Crimmins’ research assistantship will take place at the NIJ’s offices in Washington, D.C. during the 2017-18 academic year.

People in this Article: