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Wildlife Forensic Biology Subcommittee
The Wildlife Forensic Biology Subcommittee focuses on standards and guidelines related to taxonomic identification, individualization, and geographic origin of non-human biological evidence based on morphological and genetic analyses.
Officers | Members | Standards | Other Work Products
Officers
Tasha Bauman, Subcommittee Chair, Wyoming Game and Fish Wildlife Forensic Lab
Kristine Pilgrim, Subcommittee Vice Chair, USDA Forest Service-National Genomic Center for Wildlife and Fish Conservation
Eileen Larney, Subcommittee Executive Secretary, Clark R. Bavin National Fish & Wildlife Forensic Laboratory
Members
Alyse Bertenthal, Wake Forest Law School
Kelly Carrothers, ThermoFisher
James Creecy, University of Central Oklahoma
Michael Cruz Penn, Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine
Rachel Houston, Sam Houston State University
Rebecca Johnson, Smithsonian Institute
Kelly Meiklejohn, Western Sydney University
Erin Meredith, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Benjamin Neely, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Teagen Partin, U.S. Fish & Wildlife National Forensics Laboratory
Piper Schwenke, NOAA Fisheries
Dyan Straughan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Jessica Terrill, National Fish and Wildlife Forensic Laboratory
Jen Tinsman, U.S. Fish & Wildlife National Forensics Laboratory
Standards
On the OSAC Registry
- ANSI/ASB Standard 019-19 Wildlife Forensics General Standards, 2019, 1st Ed. (added March 2, 2021)
- ANSI/ASB Standard 028-19 Wildlife Forensics Morphology Standards, 2019, 1st Ed. (added June 3, 2020)
- ANSI/ASB Standard 029-19 Report Writing in Wildlife Forensics: Morphology and Genetics, 2019, 1st Ed. (added March 2, 2021)
- ANSI/ASB Standard 047-19 Wildlife Forensics Validation Standard—Validating New Primers for Sequencing, 2019, 1st Ed. (added June 3, 2020)
- ANSI/ASB Standard 138-22 Standard for Collection of Known DNA Samples from Domestic Mammals, 2022, 1st Ed. (added November 7, 2023)
- ANSI/ASB Standard 180-24 Standard for the Selection and Evaluation of GenBank® Results for Taxonomic Assignment of Wildlife, 2024, 1st Ed. (added January 13, 2025)
- OSAC 2022-S-0011 Standard for Construction of Multilocus Databases (added June 4, 2024)
- OSAC 2025-S-0012 Best Practice Recommendations for Publicly Sharing Short Tandem Repeat Data from Wildlife Panels (added October 7, 2025)
Published by a Standards Developing Organization (SDO); [Pending Evaluation & OSAC Acceptance for Registry]
At an SDO for Further Development & Publication
- ASB Standard 019 Standard for the Practice of Wildlife Forensics, 2nd Ed.
- ASB Standard 028 Standard for Wildlife Forensics Morphology, 2nd Ed.
- ASB Standard 029 Standard for Report Writing in Wildlife Forensics: Morphology and Genetics, 2nd Ed.
- ASB Standard 048-2x Standard for Wildlife Forensic DNA Procedures, 2nd Ed.
- ASB Standard 106-2x Standard for Protein Serology Methods for Taxonomic Identification in Wildlife Forensics, 2nd Ed.
- ANSI/ASB Standard 180 Standard for the Selection and Evaluation of GenBank® Results for Taxonomic Assignment of Wildlife, 2nd Ed.
- OSAC 2022-S-0011 Standard for Construction of Multilocus Databases (OSAC Proposed Standard on the Registry)
- OSAC 2025-S-0012 Best Practice Recommendations for Publicly Sharing Short Tandem Repeat Data from Wildlife Panels (OSAC Proposed Standard on the Registry)
Under Development
- OSAC 2021-S-0014 Standard for Reference Collections in Wildlife Forensic Biology: Genetics and Vertebrate Morphology
- OSAC 2025-S-0021 Standard for Validation of Multilocus Databases
Other Work Products
Interlaboratory Study
In 2023, an interlaboratory study was conducted to assess the practical utility of OSAC 2021-S-0006, Standard for the Use of GenBank for Taxonomic Assignment of Wildlife. This proposed standard outlines a series of criteria for evaluating sequences returned from a BLAST search, and determining the most appropriate taxonomic level for reporting (i.e., species level or higher). The general concepts from OSAC 2021-S-0006, although curated specifically for GenBank, could be utilized for other public sequence databases. For this assessment, eleven wildlife forensic laboratories participated in the interlaboratory study. The laboratories were asked to taxonomically assign ten unknowns using OSAC 2021-S-0006. The results of the study determined that the species level assignments were correct in 98.3% of cases and 100% congruence was observed among laboratories.
The full article was published December 2023: Interlaboratory study to assess the practical utility of OSAC proposed standard 2021-S-0006: Standard for the use of GenBank for taxonomic assignment of wildlife
Process Maps
- Wildlife Forensic Biology Process Map, August 2025.
Research & Development Needs
- See the research and development needs identified by the Wildlife Forensic Biology Subcommittee.