Chaminade University of Honolulu

Forensic Sciences

Alumna’s Forensic Science Passion Takes Her to NCIS

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Kay Een '02 headshot

When Kay Een ’02 was a kid, she called many places home.

Her dad was in the military and stationed around the world, from Okinawa to Greece to Hawaii.

And with each assignment, the family would pack up, pick up and move someplace new. Een got accustomed to change, but she also found something that always stayed the same: her love of Patricia Cornwell novels. The crime author’s delicious tales of murder and mystery fascinated her.

And eventually, they would help drive her to a successful career in forensic sciences.

But first, Een said, she had some “growing up to do.”

Finding Her Passion

After graduating from high school, Een wasn’t quite ready to jump into college so she decided to follow in her father’s footsteps and join the military. She chose the Navy and was trained as an air traffic controller. It was fulfilling, fast-paced work, but Een was looking for new ways to grow.

So when she was stationed in Hawaii, she decided to enroll at Chaminade University.

Forensic Science students at Kaimana Beach participating in a crime scene investigation simulation

She initially got her associate’s degree. And then after leaving active service, she returned to Chaminade to continue her education and complete her bachelor’s degree. She majored in Forensic Sciences, rekindling her desire to immerse herself in crime scene investigation and evidence analysis.

At Chaminade, she also found a place where she could thrive as a nontraditional student.

“I loved the connections I made with professors. There was a camaraderie I was able to develop with them,” she said. “I also really enjoyed the fact that a lot of the younger students really looked up to us older students from a life experience perspective. We could offer our shared experiences.”

But what really set Chaminade apart, Een said, was its focus on hands-on learning.

She loved every minute of mock crime scene investigations and staged witness interviews, and couldn’t get enough of the time she spent in forensic sciences labs, either. “You really got to see the work through the eyes of police officers,” she said. “It was really fascinating—and I was hooked.”

That experiential learning continued with an internship that had Een over the moon.

A Career at NCIS
Forensic scientist working at the crime scene

She got the chance to work with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) for two semesters, and suddenly found her dream job. “They had me doing real work. We were going to crime scenes, collecting evidence, I went to autopsies,” Een said. “I got to know that this was really for me.”

Een loved the work so much that she applied to NCIS after graduation in 2002. But about that same time, as the U.S. bolstered military actions in the Middle East, Een was activated from the Navy Reserves and deployed to Qatar. She was there for about six months as a Navy air crew member.

After she returned to Hawaii, she got the call she had been waiting for: NCIS wanted to interview her.

She was hired in short order for the agency, and before she had little more than a moment to take a breath, she was assigned to general crimes and conducting investigations. “It was a great first tour,” she said. “I really got to sink my teeth into understanding what the agency and my role was all about.”

Een’s next assignment with NCIS was in Okinawa, a place where she’d lived as a kid.

She is also half-Japanese, and has family on her mother’s side in mainland Japan.

Een was assigned to the family and sexual violence unit and spent three years in Okinawa.

While there, she met her future husband, a Marine. They now have two children together—10-year-old Kenji and 7-year-old Cora. And from Okinawa, the couple was able to co-locate their careers to new locales. They’ve moved five times so far, including to Washington, D.C. and back to Okinawa.

Along the way, Een also received several promotions.

Inclusion and Diversity in NCIS

“That was the most amazing thing about NCIS. I didn’t have to choose between being a mom and promoting or progressing in the agency. At the end of the day, I was presented with the right opportunities and was able to progress my military career. That’s so important,” she said. 

Een now serves as the chief diversity and inclusion officer for NCIS, a role that’s kept her passionate about her career and agency. She said her focus is on making NCIS the strongest it can be and attracting and retaining the best talent. “If you don’t have equity and you don’t have inclusion, you don’t have diversity,” she said. “We need to use this canvas of people we have to the best of their abilities.”

As she marks 18 years with NCIS, Een says it hasn’t all been roses.

About 10 years into her career with the agency, with her husband deployed, Een said she almost left when she felt as if she was being asked to choose between being a mom and being an agent. But a candid conversation with her superiors allowed her to stick with it—and she’s grateful she did.

Een added she doesn’t want that experience to happen to others.

“I was fortunate that the agency picked me up and changed my trajectory,” she said. “But I really think that shouldn’t happen to anybody else. It shouldn’t be luck or chance to determine whether or not I stayed with this agency. What if I hadn’t had that conversation? Where would I be today?”

And it’s that experience that got her interested in equity in the first place.

Een started serving as a member of the NCIS director’s Committee for Diversity and Inclusion in 2014. And when her current role opened up, she immediately put her name in the hat. “This is what I want to do because I genuinely believe that our organization is wonderful and we do really good things,” she said. “Our director believes in cultural diversity and he believes in people. I want to support that.”

And if you’re wondering if Een is a fan of the “NCIS” TV series, too, the answer is yes.

The last time she was in the islands, she got to visit the “NCIS: Hawaii” set and “totally fangirled.”

She’s also excited she might have more opportunities to swing by. Sixteen years after leaving, Een will be moving back to Hawaii with her family and continuing in her current role with NCIS remotely. “It’s something that we’ve always said, that Hawaii was where we’d like to go some day,” Een said. “It’s always been a touchtone and now it’s happening. We’re thrilled.”

Dr. David Carter Recognized for Achievements in Forensic Sciences

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Dr. David Carter holding his AAFS award

The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) recognized Chaminade University’s Forensic Sciences Director and Professor Dr. David Carter for his significant contributions to the discipline, to the broader community and to his students with the AAFS Pathology/Biology Section Award for Achievement in the Forensic Life Sciences.

The prestigious honor from the organization, which has more than 6,500 members around the US and globally, is reserved for those who have demonstrated exemplary excellence in the practice, advancement and teaching of forensic applications in the life sciences.

In addition to Carter’s myriad professional accomplishments, committee members applauded his commitment to cutting-edge scholarship and his service as a mentor for young scientists in the field. Carter is chair of the AAFS Pathology/Biology Research Committee, which helps fund young investigator research proposals, and he volunteers to moderate educational sessions at annual academy meetings.

In a recent interview, Carter said he was moved and humbled by the recognition.

“It’s incredible,” he said. “I feel like I’m just now starting to do my best work.”

Carter joined Chaminade in 2012, and he said he’s proud of how the Forensic Sciences program has continued to grow and evolve over the years. “What I try to do with my teaching is tap into our program’s identity and communicate that in an informative and interesting way,” he said.

He added one of the biggest highlights of his work is teaching and mentoring students.

“They provide me with hope for the future. They provide me with a constant stream of rewarding experiences,” he said. “All that is fuel. It’s motivating and encouraging. I just find myself smiling a lot.”

He added, “Many of them are interested in making the world a better place.”

In forensic sciences, Carter said, students find a discipline that at its core is “all about taking care of people.” Carter’s work, for example, focuses on getting answers in decomposition cases—in which key clues to a person’s cause of death are harder to find. “I help police, medical examiners, the coroner … understand decomposition better so they can do their investigations better,” Carter said.

And ultimately, that provides families and loved ones with answers—and closure.

Carter added that while all the elements of his work have their own unique rewards, one thing that never fails to brighten his day is when he hears from a graduate who is doing well in the field. “They’ll send you a message and say, ‘you taught us how to do that thing in class and I used it,’” he said.

Looking ahead, Carter said he’s excited about advances in his field—and about how technology is allowing researchers to take another look at old challenges. “I’m just hitting my stride,” he added, when asked about his own career. Plus, Carter is in good company in being honored with the achievement award. Dr. Lee Goff, Chaminade’s former Forensic Sciences director, received it in 2008.

Dr. Lorin Ramocki and Dr. Katelyn Perrault Recognized for their Passion and Innovation in Teaching

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Motivated. Innovative. Passionate. A trailblazer.

Those were some of the words used to describe this year’s faculty honorees of the Chaminade Excellence in Teaching and Scholarship awards, which recognize those going above and beyond to ensure student success in the classroom and contribute to their area of study in meaningful ways.

Lorin Ramocki

Dr. Lorin Ramocki, an assistant professor in the School of Nursing and Health Professions, received the Chaminade’s 2021 Excellence in Teaching Award for her tireless work to create hands-on simulations that promote “learning by doing.”

The simulations—which ranged from a mock homeless camp on campus to a COVID vaccination clinic to an “unfolding case study” into a Hepatitis A outbreak—were especially vital during the pandemic because COVID made some community placements for Nursing students impossible.

“The COVID pandemic created a loss of clinical rotations in both hospitals and community settings and faculty pivoted to simulation on campus as well as supporting COVID vaccination efforts,” said School of Nursing and Health Professions Dean Rhoberta Haley, PhD, who nominated Ramocki for the award.

Haley said Ramocki ensured experiential learning continued for students during the pandemic. “Dr. Ramocki is a truly creative, innovative, motivated, and effective teacher,” Haley said, “who makes Public Health content and clinical experiences come alive for each of our Nursing students.”

Ramocki said she is honored by the recognition and takes joy in using her creativity to develop “engaging learning environments to give students the best experience possible.” She added that her teaching philosophy is rooted in “developing a community within the classroom.”

“My philosophy on teaching students is really embedded in trying to inspire them to find their own interests—and then connect it back to something in public health to help them enhance their understanding and how they can impact the health of their own communities,” she said.

Katelynn Perrault

Meanwhile, the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics’ Dr. Katelynn Perrault was recognized with the 2021 Fr. John F. Bolin Excellence in Scholarship Award for substantial contributions to her field of study. The associate professor of Forensic Sciences and Chemistry was also recently honored with the John B. Phillips Award, which recognizes early career researchers who are making advancements in the field of two-dimensional gas chromatography, which involves separating chemicals present in complex samples.

Perrault is studying odors produced by bacteria associated with decomposing bodies.

Dr. Hans Chun, director of Education Leadership Programs at Chaminade, nominated Perrault for the honor and said she has been a “trailblazer in research” since she arrived at the University. “Kate embodies the concept that teaching and research are not mutually exclusive,” Chun said.

Chun also said her work has helped to “raise Chaminade’s scholarly profile.”

Perrault said receiving the award is a “landmark moment for me” at the University and has driven her to reflect on her work—and on the work of the student researchers she is mentoring. “Seeing their contributions to science recognized gives me great joy as a mentor,” she said. Perrault added that while many people think of research as something that’s done outside of the classroom, she sees it as something central to classroom learning. “Great things can be accomplished within a class when students are set with the task of creating new knowledge on their own accord. There is something about that experience that cannot be learned in any textbook.”

Alumna Creates Scholarship to Pay It Forward

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Caylee Orsinger '11 posing for the camera in her work uniform

Caylee Orsinger ’11 may live and work in Oklahoma, but her heart is still in the Islands. To prove that, you need look no further than the name she gave her medical distributorship company—Aloha Medical—or the slogan she puts on her business cards: “Where aloha meets medicine.”

It’s that passion for Hawai‘i and its people that drove her to think about ways to give back.

And after reaching out to a mentor at Chaminade, Biology Assistant Professor Dr. Jolene Cogbill, she made up her mind: she decided to establish a scholarship at Chaminade to help STEM-focused students achieve their dreams. The Caylee Orsinger Scholarship will help support 10 STEM students in Fall 2021 and Spring 2022. The funding is available to rising juniors or to incoming transfer students.

It’s not every day someone celebrating the 10-year reunion of her college graduation sets up a scholarship fund. But Orsinger said her upbringing in Hawai‘i and her time at Chaminade solidified her resolve to pay it forward. “It’s a full circle. We get out what we put in,” she said.

“I always wanted to donate to science technology and invest in other people.”

Just like people invested in her.

Caylee Orsinger '11 scrapbook page of her graduation from Chaminade

Orsinger said the scholarships she was awarded at Chaminade made a significant difference, and sometimes all the difference, in helping her accomplish her goals. “I worked my way through college and tried to make my way through school,” she said. “Scholarships were huge. They helped me a lot.”

Orsinger grew up on Maui and graduated from King Kekaulike High School in Pukalani.

She knew she wanted to pursue the sciences, but didn’t see herself flourishing in lecture halls with hundreds of students. That’s when she learned about Chaminade and jumped at the chance to pursue a degree in Biology at a campus with smaller class sizes and a strong public service mission.

And once enrolled, she learned about the University’s leading Forensic Sciences program.

She ended up double majoring, with an eye toward eventually becoming a doctor.

After graduation, she moved to Oklahoma to begin preparing to apply for medical school. But while there, her life took another path. She was bartending when she ran into someone who owned a medical distributorship company. She ended up getting a job there to gain valuable experience.

“I fell in love with it,” she said.

Orsinger’s work takes her into operating rooms, where she ensures surgeons and other healthcare professionals have the tools and equipment they need for complicated procedures. She is also proud to serve the community of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, the capital of two Cherokee tribes.

And she’s excited about continuing to grow her company.

She said she’s hopeful her trajectory since graduation—from her small Maui upbringing to a rising entrepreneur—offers inspiration to Chaminade students just beginning on their path to a profession.

She has some advice for them, too: remember all the support and encouragement you got as you sought to accomplish your goals so you can do the same for someone else one day. Facing a group of young people seeking degrees in STEM, she would tell them to “never get discouraged.” She would also leave them with some food for thought: “how are you going to give back later?”

“Forensic Microbiology” Goes International

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In 2017, Chaminade Professor Dr. David Carter co-authored a textbook on the emerging (and groundbreaking) role of microbes in forensic science. Three years later and “Forensic Microbiology” is not only a seminal text in the field, but an Arabic version is slated to be published in December 2021.

Dr. David Carter

Carter, director of the Forensic Sciences program at Chaminade, co-wrote and served as one of the book’s four co-editors to focus on the emerging role of microbiology in forensic science investigations.

As he notes, microbes (or microorganisms) don’t replace more mundane forms of evidence – think fingerprints or cell phone records – but they can prove vital in establishing a cause of death, estimating when a person has died, and analyzing changes to a body after death along with evidence at a scene.

Using microbes – one of the “trendiest” areas of forensic science – can involve cutting-edge DNA analysis or tools and procedures that were invented more than a century ago, Carter previously told Campus News. ““There were folks using microbes in the 19th Century as evidence,” Carter said, adding that some of those techniques were forgotten and then recently unearthed to determine their efficacy.

Why microbes? Because they’re “present everywhere a human goes,” Carter said.

They’re always on us – and in us – “and not all forms of evidence do that.”

Forensic Microbiology Book

The planned Arabic translation of “Forensic Microbiology,” which is already in use at institutions nationally and around the globe, underscores the growing utility of microbiology in forensic science – and how Chaminade’s Forensic Sciences program is at the forefront of that effort.

Indeed, the focus of Carter’s research is the structure and function of the postmortem human microbiome and the process of human decomposition, especially in tropical environments. In his decades of work analyzing crime scenes, Carter has consulted with investigative agencies around the globe, published in high-profile scientific journals, and served as a leader in the academic field.

He has also mentored scores of Forensic Sciences students, including two Chaminade University graduates who contributed to “Forensic Microbiology”: Emily Junkins (’16) went on to pursue a doctoral degree in microbiology while Whitney Kodama (’17) joined the Honolulu Office of the Medical Examiner.

Alumna Pursues Passion at Chaminade and Beyond

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Jennifer Lai Hipp became a forensic sciences buff in high school, but she never saw it as a career path.

Forensic Sciences CSI class at Kaimana Beach

That is, until the college program she was in – studying American Sign Language – was put on hold.

Hipp, who graduated from Chaminade in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in forensic science, is now pursuing a master’s degree in human biology at the University of Indianapolis and has her sights set on a future in forensic anthropology. She said she’s even considering getting a doctoral degree.

“I took it as a sign I should follow my true passion and knew that Chaminade had one of the best forensic science programs in the country,” she said. “I decided to apply and luckily I got in.”

Hipp said she’s thankful for the strong educational foundation she built at Chaminade, where she thrived with small class sizes and engaging learning opportunities.

“The lab courses at Chaminade are built to give us hands-on experience that we can take into the real world,” she said. “I learned crime scene investigation techniques, including crime scene mapping and photography, latent fingerprint processing, and bloodstain pattern analysis.”

Along the way, she was able to build strong relationships with her professors and her peers.

Dr. David Carter and Jennifer Lai Hipp '17
Dr. David Carter and Jennifer Lai Hipp ’17 had a chance to catch up while Dr. Carter was in Indianapolis.

One of those mentors was Dr. David Carter, director of the Forensic Sciences program at Chaminade.

Hipp said Carter was “integral” to her success at Chaminade — and beyond.

“He helped me with everything from registering for classes and planning out my academic year to giving me advice about careers and applying for graduate school,” she said.

“I was nervous about attending college, but Dr. Carter was always positive and supporting. He was also great to talk to when I needed a break from studying.”

Hipp said that Chaminade’s Dr. Robert Mann also helped her immensely in the program, including by serving as a “source of inspiration” and advice about jobs in the field.

She said Mann even helped her secure internship opportunities and encouraged her to pursue her dream of becoming a forensic anthropologist.

“The faculty of the Forensic Sciences program at Chaminade integrated their work experience in the field into the classroom, which I believe was an important part of my education. They were able to relate the material in the textbooks to the real world,” Hipp said.

“They also worked closely with all the forensic sciences students to create a resume, critique scientific journal articles, and practice giving professional presentations.”

All that preparation proved key to Hipp’s next steps: Seeking a graduate degree in pursuit of a career.

“Being a non-traditional student, I did not have the typical college experience,” Hipp said.

“But I found my professors very easy to relate to and had a wealth of knowledge about both college and the working world.”