ChemCentre, together with the Australian Federal Police and Curtin University, has launched Shake it out for Science – a citizen science project which one day could end up helping police solve crimes.
The project invites citizen scientists to collect and submit samples to be analysed by forensic science experts at ChemCentre.
Glass can be found almost everywhere and glass shards can come from a variety of sources such as broken windows, containers and even automotive glass. One source that is becoming increasingly common is glass from cracked and broken mobile phone screens. But how common is it to find broken glass on a person’s clothing?
That’s the question we’re hoping to answer, with the help of our citizen scientists to Shake it out for Science.
Citizen scientists will be trained to shake the debris from clothing items, then collect the debris or ‘shakings’ using a technique that is employed by forensic experts across Australia. The shakings will then be examined for glass fragments by ChemCentre’s specialist forensic scientists.
The glass fragments collected and analysed will contribute to forensic scientific research by generating data to determine an estimation of the current background levels of broken glass in the population. This data will also provide the foundation of a scientific publication and will assist with current forensic case work.
This year is the pilot program for Shake it out for Science, with the opportunity for a limited number of high school groups to take part, before expanding the project in 2023.
As this year’s National Science Week theme for schools is Glass: More Than Meets The Eye, citizen scientists are being encouraged to undertake their forensic activities between 13-21 August.
For more information on the project or to register your high school visit Shake it out for Science.
