Speakers April 16 and 17, 2013—Open to the public

• Investigator Robert B. Appleton

  

  Investigator Robert B. Appleton is currently assigned to Forensic Investigation Support Services (FISS) under direction of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) Headquarters in Albany, NY. He is a NYS-certified latent print examiner, crime scene and evidence technician. He is certified by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as a site safety supervisor and clandestine laboratory technician. He serves on the Contaminated Crime Scene Emergency Response Team (CCSERT) and holds certifications in weapons of mass destruction while attending schools hosted by US Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies. He is a New York State Police [NYSP] instructor and NYS certified instructor.

  Rob Appleton is a 14-year veteran with the New York State Police, and has been in his current assignment since August of 2005. His training and experience encompasses the following specialized fields:

  • Forensic crime scene processing
  • Latent print processing and identification
  • Court testimony
  • Hazardous materials identification
  • Clandestine laboratories
  • Weapons of mass destruction (biological, nuclear/radiological, chemical and explosive)
  • Incident response to terrorist bombings

  He graduated in 1992 from Norwich University with a BS in environmental engineering technology and currently serves on the Board of Fellows. In 2008, Appleton completed his master's degree in public administration from Marist College. He is a member of the National Honor Society for Public Administration and Affairs, Pi Alpha Alpha, and an adjunct professor for Marist, teaching in the MPA program. For Marist, he has taught at the NYPD Academy in New York City, NYSP Academy in Albany and online programs.

• Ken Bell

  

  Ken Bell is a senior intelligence analyst with Raytheon's Cyber Threat Operations, where he conducts proactive computer network defense intelligence operations to counter specific methodologies, tools, tactics and intentions of advanced cyber adversaries.

  Prior to joining Raytheon, Bell completed a 20-year career in law enforcement with the Rhode Island State Police where he supervised the computer crimes unit. He has conducted hundreds of computer forensics examinations and is certified as a forensic computer examiner. Bell has been qualified as an expert witness in both state and federal court related to technology-based investigations and computer forensics. He has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice with a minor in computer information systems from Roger Williams University, and recently completed Norwich University's Masters of Science in Information Assurance program. He will graduate in June 2013.

  In 2011, Bell received the Bill Siebert Award for Excellence in Computer Forensics from Guidance Software.

• Gary E. Hoover Jr.

  

  Special Agent Gary E. Hoover Jr. is a 13-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and currently serves on the counterintelligence squad in the Albany, N.Y., field division.

  He serves as the division?s counterproliferation coordinator and is responsible for overseeing all investigations involving the threat posed by state-sponsored groups, individuals and organizations attempting to acquire weapons of mass destruction or other sensitive technologies. Hoover is also charged with investigating matters involving traditional and economic espionage.

  In his career, Hoover has investigated matters involving counterintelligence, counterterrorism, violent crime and white collar crime and has served in the FBI?s Kingston, N.Y.; Albany, N.Y.; and Washington, D.C., field offices. Prior to his current assignment, he supervised FBI counterproliferation investigations in the counterintelligence division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

  Hoover is a certified FBI legal instructor who conducts regular training for FBI agents and FBI task force members on federal criminal procedure and national security matters. He is a FBI certified firearms instructor and Special Weapons and Tactics operator and has conducted regular and international training in these areas as well.

  Hoover is a 1992 graduate of Norwich University with a BA in criminal justice and a minor in English. In 2000, he also earned a juris doctorate degree from Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Del. Prior to the FBI, Gary served as a police officer and patrol sergeant with the Lower Merion Township Police Department in Ardmore, Penn.

• Cathryn L. Levine

  

  Cathryn Levine is supervisor of the Forensic Science Program in the Office of Forensic Services at the New York State Division of Criminal Justice (DCJS). Her responsibilities include the monitoring of laboratory accreditation documentation for all 22 public forensic laboratories in the state. Included in this documentation is the tracking of statistical and annual compliance monitoring for the Commission of Forensic Science, DNA Subcommittee and others in the criminal justice system. All public forensic laboratories in New York have been accredited since 2000. In addition, her office coordinates continuing-education training for forensic scientists and 10 technical working groups.

  Prior to working at DCJS, Levine spent more than 15 years working at the New York State Police Forensic Investigation Center as a trace evidence analyst, specializing in hair and fiber examinations. She has a BS in biology from Michigan State University, an MS from Northeastern University in forensic chemistry and an MA from University of Albany in criminal justice.

  In addition to lecturing extensively on the collection and preservation of trace evidence, she has lectured at national and regional forensic science meetings as well as for the International Criminal Investigation Training Assistance Program in Panama. Levine was also an invited member to the Scientific Working Group for Materials Analysis, and worked on guidelines for fiber examination.

• Dr. Lowell J. Levine, DDS

  

  Dr. Lowell J. Levine is a forensic scientist and co-director of operations for the New York State Police Forensic Services Unit.

  After receiving a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from New York University in 1963, he served two years of active duty as a dental officer in the US Navy and recently retired from US Naval Reserve as a captain. Levine has served as president of the American Academy of Forensic Odontology. He has testified as an expert witness in celebrated cases nationwide — including that of serial murdered Theodore Bundy — as well as in federal courts, court martials and committees of the United States Congress.

  Levine has established an international reputation for his participation in the identification of Nazi war criminal Joseph Mengele, assistance in the investigation by the “Commission on the Disappeared” of Argentina, and most recently has served as a member of a team of experts that went to Ekaterinburg, Russia, to examine the remains of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.

  He has also served as a consultant to the Philadelphia Special Investigation Commission investigating the MOVE conflagration and US Army’s Central Identification Laboratory identifying MIAs of Vietnam. He participated in the medico-legal investigation of the sailors killed on the USS Stark (EFG-31) as well as the select Committee on Assassinations of the US House of Representatives, which investigated the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

  In addition to training scientists in Indonesia, Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador and other countries for various governments and agencies, Levine has published numerous scientific papers and lectures throughout the United States and internationally. He was instrumental in developing the annual NYSP Col. Henry F Williams Seminar. He is also the recipient of the Hobart College Medal of Excellence as a distinguished alumnus.

• Charles F. Nettleship IV

  

  Chuck Nettleship joined Raytheon Company in January 2010 as senior manager of homeland security solutions for business development and strategy.

  He supports domestic and international homeland security programs relating to persistent surveillance systems and multi-situational awareness C4I programs. Nettleship recently served as a consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton, managing Marine Corps continuity of operations and whole of government interagency solutions. He has extensive experience in the private sector with more than 20 years of organizational management, business development, profit/loss and strategic planning with the North American steel industry, recycling industries, IT asset management and command and control software industry.

  Nettleship has demonstrated leadership with interagency operational planning, counterterrorism planning and foreign consequence management at US European Command (USEUCOM), the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State. He served as an operational planning officer for Turkey and Black Sea Region for the J35 USEUCOM. He lead counterterrorism and document and media exploitation training for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), supporting the DIA Iraq Survey Group at Camp Slayer, Iraq. He currently serves as a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Reserves at Devens, Mass., supporting USEUCOM Joint Reserve Unit as branch chief for the ECJ9-Interagency Partnership Directorate. Nettleship has nearly 28 years of active and reserve service with numerous international deployments to the Middle East and Europe. He also serves Norwich University on the Board of Fellows — College of Liberal Arts.

  Education

  • Master of Business Administration (MBA), Norwich Univ. School of Grad. Studies
  • Bachelor of Arts (BA)/Associates in Science (AS), Norwich Univ. Corps of Cadets
  • --Political Science and Criminal Justice
  • US Admin. for Int’l Dev. (USAID) Joint Humanitarian Assistance Operations Course
  • Joint Forces Staff College, Joint Command, Control, Communication, Computers and Intelligence Staff and Operations Course (JC4ISOC)
  • US Air Force Special Operations School, Dynamics of International Terrorism
  • National Defense University, NATO Staff Officer Orientation Course
  • Joint Forces Staff College, Joint Planning Orientation Course
  • DOD Cyber Crime Conf., Digital Imagery and Computer Forensic Course
  • US Army, Command and General Staff Officers Course (CGSOC)
  • US Army Corps of Engineers Officer Basic and Advanced Course
  • US Army Air Assault and Airborne schools

• Dr. Richard Ovens

  

  Richard Ovens is a licensed clinical psychologist and a national certified counselor with board certification by the National Board for Certified Counselors. He has been certified in clinical hypnosis by the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis and is a certified polygraphist.

  Ovens is a member of the American Counseling Association, The American Psychological Association, The American Mental Health Counselors Association, The New York State Psychological Association and The New York State Association for Counseling and Development.

  Ovens retired from the New York State Police [NYSP] in 1994 after nearly 30 years of service. He served in the Uniform Force and the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, rising through the ranks to become the first director of the Employee Assistance Program. Assigned to the Bureau of Criminal Investigation, he worked in specialized units investigating narcotics offenses, gambling offenses, and organized crime activity, as well as routine criminal investigation.

  An expert in interrogation and interview, he initiated the first full-time polygraph program for the NYSP. As a commissioned officer, he supervised the statewide B.C.I.’s adoption of cases, polygraph and forensic hypnosis programs, preparation of the B.C.I. budget, and oversight of the computerized reporting system. Returning to a field assignment at Troop F, Middletown, N.Y., in 1981, he assisted in the supervision of the troop’s 76 investigators. In 1987 he was re-assigned to division headquarters to design the Employee Assistance Program and become its first director. During his career, he received 13 Superintendent’s Commendations for outstanding service to the NYSP.

  Ovens is currently an adjunct faculty member at the New York State Police Academy and the National Training Center of Polygraph Science. He has developed curricula for courses in interrogation, interviewing, polygraph physiology, stress management, chemical dependency, management strategies, communication skills for supervisors, critical incident debriefing and employee assistance training for supervisors. In addition, Ovens lectures extensively throughout the United States and Canada for governmental agencies, colleges, private corporations and business groups.