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Tatiana Trejos, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Department of Forensic and Investigative Science

Chemistry Adjunct Assistant Professor

Tatiana Trejos' Research Page

About

Dr. Trejos will join the faculty of the Department of Forensic & Investigative Science at WVU in the fall of 2016. Dr. Trejos earned a B.S. degree in Chemistry from the University of Costa Rica, an M.S. degree in Forensic Science from Florida International University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry/Forensic from Florida International University. She spent 11 years as researcher and manager of the Trace Evidence Analysis Facility at the International Forensic Research Institute at Florida International University. Since 2014, Dr. Trejos was appointed IFRI faculty and Director of the Professional Science Master in Forensic Sciences at FIU. Before joining FIU, Dr. Trejos was a forensic chemist at the Department of Forensic Science/ Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica. 

Research Interests

Dr. Trejos’s research interests include chemical analysis of micro traces, mass spectrometric and spectroscopic chemical imaging, the discovery of chemical signatures of forensic materials for intelligence-driven applications and the use of chemometrics to forensic evidence interpretation. Previous research has included the development of spectrochemical methods (ICP-MS, Laser Ablation ICP-MS, u-XRF and Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) for the forensic analysis of glass, paint, documents (paper & ink), soils and tape evidence. Dr. Trejos has authored 29 peer-reviewed scientific publications and book chapters in the field of forensic chemistry and has presented over 90 oral presentations and posters at scientific meetings worldwide.

Special Information

Dr. Trejos has been part of several scientific working groups and has been appointed to the NIST OSAC subcommittee on Trace Evidence/Materials, which is responsible for defining national standards for forensic chemical analyses. Dr. Trejos has taught numerous workshops to practicing forensic professionals in the USA and abroad. In 2015, Dr. Trejos was nominated by Forensic Colleges as top 10 forensic chemistry professors and was the recipient of the prestigious science and technology award “Clodomiro Picado Twight” from the Costa Rican National Academy of Sciences.