The 2020 SWAFS Elections are upon us! Below you will find a list of all available candidates for you to vote upon. You will be selecting one candidate each for the President and Secretary positions, then casting two votes for our two open Board of Directors positions. E-mail ballots will be sent individually to all currently registered SWAFS members. Please contact the webmaster if you did not receive a ballot, and should have.
PRESIDENT
I am a Forensic Scientist with the Texas Department of Public Safety’s crime laboratory in Garland. I began working in the Garland lab almost 14 years ago. I attended my first SWAFS conference shortly after gaining employment in Colorado Springs in 2006 and have attended many conferences since. I have thoroughly enjoyed attending the conferences, learning new techniques or tricks and networking the other attendees. I have served SWAFS in different ways. I first was a member of the organizing committee when the DEA South Central Laboratory hosted the annual conference in Grapevine, TX in 2010 and then presented a class during the conference in Oklahoma City in 2015. I am currently completing my term as a member of the Board of Directors. It has been a pleasure serving SWAFS in this capacity, and I would be humbled to represent you and serve this great organization as President-Elect.
Secretary
Tamara graduated from Northern Arizona University in 1995 with a BS in Forensic Chemistry (Criminalistics). During her college years, she also worked at the AZ DPS North and South Regional Crime Labs. She joined the Drug Enforcement Administration’s South Central Laboratory in 1997 and continued her career until retirement in 2014. Tamara attended many certification schools throughout her career; Clandestine Lab Investigations, Level A Investigations, Basic Forensic Chemist School. She is very active in the Southwestern Association of Forensic Scientist (SWAFS) organization, where she was on the Board of Directors from 2005-2007, 2008-2010, 2011-2013, President-Elect 2014, President 2015, Chairman of Board currently. During her career, she testified over 100 times in state and federal courts, responded to over 50 crime scenes, and taught over 100 classes to chemists, attorneys, and law enforcement personnel. She is married to her college sweetheart and together, they are raising 3 rambunctious boys!
Board of Directors
Brittany Crawford is a graduate from Sam Houston State University with a B.S. in Forensic Chemistry and a M.S. in Forensic Science. She is an American Board of Criminalistics certified Fellow in drug analysis as well as a Texas Forensic Science Commission Licensed and court qualified expert chemist for the analysis of seized drugs and drug chemistry. Currently employed as a Forensic Chemist at the Southwest Regional Science Center for the Unites States Customs and Border Protection where she works with federal law enforcement agencies as well as United States attorneys. She previously worked as a drug chemist at the Institute of Forensic Sciences in Harris County, TX for six years and also interned as a physical science aid at the Southwest Regional Science Center for the United States Customs and Border Protection while obtaining her master’s degree.
Maegan Huerta graduated from Ohio University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forensic Chemistry. She has been a Forensic Scientist with the Texas Department of Public Safety Crime Laboratory since 2011, specializing in Controlled Substance Identification and Blood Alcohol Analysis. In addition to her role as forensic scientist, Maegan has also been responsible for training new analysts and instructing law enforcement officers on the proper collection and storage of evidence. She served a 2-year term on each of the DPS Controlled Substance and Blood Alcohol Advisory Boards and has participated in the DPS Internal Audit process. Maegan has been a SWAFS member since 2013. She served on the hosting committee for the 2014 Annual SWAFS Conference, and she is currently serving on the Scholarship Committee. She is looking forward to the opportunity to further her involvement with the organization as a member of the Board of Directors.
Quinton Bryant earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. He worked as a chemist at the Arkansas Department of Health Public Laboratory in the Chemical Terrorism division before transferring to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory (ASCL) in 2016 as a Forensic Scientist in the Forensic Chemistry section. While at the laboratory he has become a member of two professional organizations, Southwestern Association of Forensic Scientists (SWAFS) and Clandestine Laboratory of Investigating Chemists (CLIC). In the laboratory, Quinton serves as a Safety officer, a member of the ASCL Mass Casualty Response Team, and an internal auditor. He also served as a co-lead for interns on summer projects, aids in training new analysts in the section, and is one of the certified CPR instructors certifying the laboratory employees in basic life support and first aid.
In his spare time, Quinton enjoys spending time with his family, watching movies, playing games, and traveling. He enjoys his time playing with his 2 year old son and he and his wife are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their daughter in December.
I am a Technical Supervisor with the Breath Alcohol Laboratory at the Texas Department of Public Safety and have been employed with Texas DPS since September 2007. For most of my career, I worked at the Texas DPS Crime Lab in Corpus Christi in the Seized Drug and Blood Alcohol Analysis Section. In June 2017, I made the transition to the Breath Alcohol Lab in Austin.
I have been a member of SWAFS since 2009 and in the past have served on the Journal and Audit Committees and as chair of the Peer Review Committee. Currently, I am serving as a member of the Professional Conduct Committee. In 2017, I presented a seminar on Peer Review Testimony at the SWAFS Conference in Ft. Worth. Additionally, I am a regular member of the International Association for Chemical Testing and the Alcohol Testing Alliance.
My current professional interests include measurement uncertainty topics with responsibilities for training new Forensic Scientists on the Texas DPS uncertainty estimates as well as spearheading a partnership between Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Texas Breath Alcohol Program to increase the number of TPWD Breath Test Operators statewide in order to support water safety operations in the summer boating months. I am excited about the opportunity to serve on the SWAFS Board of Directors.
Terra Lucas earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry with a minor in Forensic Science from Ferris State University, Big Rapids, MI. She began her forensics career as a Crime Scene Specialist for the Little Rock Police Department in June, 2012 and then became a Forensic Drug Chemist at the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory in November, 2014. Terra has served on the Admission Committee for SWAFS since 2016 and is the current Chair of the Meeting Advisory Committee. She became a Drug Analysis Fellow with the American Board of Criminalistics in 2018, became certified and competent as a Clandestine Laboratory Chemist in 2020, and is a member of Clandestine Laboratory Investigating Chemists Association, serving as their Historian and a member of the Electronic Resources Committee. In addition to her role as a forensic chemist, Terra trains new analysts, and performs method development, validations, and training for new analytical techniques. She is a Safety Officer, Grievance Officer, and serves on her laboratory’s internal audit team. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and hiking with her husband, cooking, and loves playing with her three little dogs.