The Sixth Francine and Michael Saferstein Memorial Lectures

On March 24 and 25, 2005, Dr. Jimmie Carol Oxley (Professor of Chemistry, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, R.I.) presented the Sixth Francine and Michael Saferstein Memorial Lectures titled "Tattletale Hair" and "Explosives: A Forensic Research Update".

Dr. Karger and Dr. Oxley

Barry Karger, Bill Hancock, Dick Saferstein, and Beverly Brenner

Tattletale Hair

What does your hair have to say about you? Besides being one of the greatest single factors in determining your appearance, your hair keeps a chemical record of your activities. Are you taking your proscribed medication? are you ingesting illicit drugs? are you exposed to tobacco smoke? or have you been handling high explosives? The evidence is in your hair. Dr. Oxley will talk about the ongoing laboratory studies at the University of Rhode Island on explosive accumulation in hair. Questions examined will be the range of explosives and the effect of hair color on sorbtion of explosives.

Explosives: A Forensic Research Update

Dr Oxley discussed current and past research activities at the University of Rhode Island. Laboratory research covers the range of classic thermal decomposition studies to large-scale detonation trials; accumulation of explosives in hair to accumulation of explosives in the soils of military ranges; synthesis of novel energetic materials to preparation and characterization of the American pipe bomb.

Ph.D., Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver; M.S., Chemistry, California State University, Northridge, CA; B.A., University of California, San Diego, CA.

Dr. Oxley has organized numerous symposia and workshops for government and industrial laboratories on topics ranging from hazards analysis to bomb threats. She instructed courses at NMT, by televideo to Sandia National Labs, and by special arrangement to NMT Explosives Safety Course and Computational Mechanics Explosives Technology Workshop. Dr. Oxley is the past chair of the Gordon Research Conference (GRC) on Energetic Materials; co-founder of Life Cycles of Energetic Materials and the GRC on Illicit Substance Detection. She is an elected fellow of the North American Thermal Analysis Society and a reviewer for the FBI, NSF, and National Academy of Sciences (NAS) National Research Council (NRC). Dr. Oxley has served on four NRC panels--Military Science Board advising the Army on Chemical Weapon Destruction (1998-99); Chemistry Board advising ATF & Congress on the Committee on Marking, Rendering Inert, & Licensing of Explosive Material (1997-98); National Material Advisory Board (NMAB) advising the FAA on Commercial Aviation Security (1995-98); the Manufacturing Board’s Advanced Energetic Materials (2001-2002).

Dr. Oxley has authored 70 papers on energetic materials (explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics). Though she sometimes works on law enforcement issues [with the FBI simulating the World Trade Center bombing (1993), with FEL examining large fertilizer bombs, and with ATF studying the behavior of pipe bombs], her main research interest is hazard analysis of energetic materials. Studies include kinetics, analysis and prediction of stability, safety issues, synthesis of energetics, and analytical protocols. She has studied most classes of energetic materials with publications on nitrate esters (PETN, NG, NC); nitroarenes (TNT, TATB, DNT, and related ring systems); nitramines (RDX, HMX, CL-20); nitrogen-heterocycles (NTO, TNAZ); energetic salts (AN, AP, ADN, HAN); proto-type difluoroamine compounds; and other energetic compounds, such as hydroxylamine, hydrogen peroxide, TATP, and HMTD. Work has been performed for a variety of companies and government agencies (U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, FAA, DARPA, and Sandia & Los Alamos National Labs). Dr. Oxley’s URI laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art analytical instruments: calorimeters, chromatographs, mass spectrometers and multinuclear NMR. Present projects include acetylides, energetic chlorine-containing salts, TNT residue analysis, and explosive detection evaluations.