Forensic scientist brings DNA knowledge to Lewes Elementary

Lewes Elementary fourth-graders recently got to experience a special presentation from forensic scientist Dr. Charla Marshall as they wrapped up an exploration of reading and writing the mystery genre.

Marshall, a Lewes Elementary parent, is a forensic scientist with Dover Air Force Base. During her presentation, students learned about her career in the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory and heard details from some of the unique cases she’s worked on with her team.

Marshall leads a team of lab researchers specializing in DNA collection and extraction. She shared information with students about what DNA is, how it can be found or extracted, and how everyone has a unique DNA sequence that helps the researchers identify people, some of whom lived and died hundreds of years ago.

“This is the third time we’ve had the opportunity to invite Dr. Marshall to speak to our students about how real-life mysteries are often solved,” said Stacy Kotch-Jester, a fourth-grade teacher at Lewes Elementary. “This year, it was the perfect way to end our unit and was a great opportunity for students to engage with someone who works in the world of mystery every day.”

Marshall shared her experience working on two interesting cases – one involving a man named John Barber who died of tuberculosis in Connecticut about 200 years ago, and one involving bones found on the West Virginia property of Samuel Walter Washington. In the second case, researchers were able to use DNA from Washington to identify the bones on his property as belonging his ancestors. In the process, they were also able to determine that Washington was in fact a distant relative of the nation’s first president, George Washington. This DNA analysis became the first Y-chromosomal DNA profile for President Washington and may ultimately help identify other people who are paternally related to him.