Chaminade University of Honolulu

Forensic Sciences

Employers Offer Options to Chaminade Students at Campus Career Fair

Private sector employers, state agencies, federal government offices, and nonprofits all turned up in force to the campus’ latest showcase of career opportunities, sizing up Chaminade students while advertising job openings and career paths.

The Chaminade University Career fair was held at Hale Hoaloha on Wednesday, and it was well-attended. Hundreds of students turned up for the three-hour gathering, spending time at dozens of employers’ booths to learn more about the positions state and mainland employers are trying to fill and the types of candidates they’re looking for.

Jeri Mara-Berger, Business Development Manager at Altres Medical, said she came to the Career Fair to set up an information and recruitment booth in the hope of making connections with students in Chaminade’s renowned nursing program.

“I’m here specifically for medical, because Chaminade has RN programs,” she explained. “A lot of RNs have difficulty finding jobs when they graduate, so we’re here to kind of let them know that there are options.”

Mara-Berger confirmed that there is an acute shortage of nurses in Hawai’i. Thus, Chaminade University’s nursing students are in a strong position to locate work post-graduation. All they need to do is reach out, she said.

“We’re always short staffed,”  Mara-Berger said.

Altres Medical was hardly the only medical and mental-health related employer represented at the fair.

Representatives at ‘Ike Loa Therapeutic Services said they were busy recruiting future counselors and were interested in speaking with psychology majors. Officials with Hale Kipa, an Ewa-based nonprofit that supports and empowers at-risk youth and families,  also said they were on the lookout for crisis counselors and mental health professionals soon to graduate from Chaminade.

Meanwhile, Chaminade’s criminal justice and forensic science programs drew in representatives of state and federal law enforcement agencies.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation set up a booth at the fair, as did the U.S. Secret Service and Maui County Police Department. FBI representatives said they were there to tout internship opportunities and the bureau’s efforts to recruit new trainees even among students still in their junior year in college, part of a new Collegiate Hiring Initiative that aims to foster new FBI recruits through its training and promotion system for years.

Employers looking for technically qualified candidates also turned up to the Career Fair in strength.

Shay Zykoba, Corporate Engagement Manager at Hawaiian Telecom, said this was her first year to recruit at the Chaminade University Career Fair.

Zykoba said the rising frequency of storms and related service outages in the state has her company mindful of the need to hire more personnel.

“There have been a lot of storms recently,” she said. “That’s why we need these positions filled. It’s very important to keep people online during bad weather.”

Zykoba said Hawaiian Telecom knows what it is looking for in new recruits. She was confident that Chaminade’s students meet those expectations.

“We’re looking for folks who are go-getters, who have the attitude to be given a task and complete it on their own without much direction but to ask for help when they need it,” she said.

State government representatives also turned up to remind continuing and graduating Chaminade students that the State of Hawaii is in an ongoing drive to streamline its hiring process while working to quickly fill long-open civil service and non-civil service positions alike.

They advised Chaminade students to check out the website jobs.hawaii.gov for information on the state’s latest openings.

The Fair featured employers large and small, from the U.S. Navy to Waikiki Community Preschool. Kamehameha Schools was on hand to recruit students, as was the Make-A-Wish Foundation and other notable nonprofit organizations.

Jill, Talent Acquisition Specialist at Enterprise, said she turned up in the hopes of recruiting candidates interested in management positions, potentially ideal for business students, though she stressed that she was interested in hearing from students of all backgrounds.

“We have our summer internships and our management training programs, and so they are open to any student,” she said. “We are looking for juniors who may be interested in learning about how to run a business.”

Chaminade University forensic sciences lab secures last remains of Saint Marianne of Moloka‘i

More than a century after her death, the story of a saint who served those with leprosy and died on Moloka’i is being told anew—through science. Chaminade University’s Forensic Sciences Unit is helping evaluate her remains, uniting Marianist mission and modern forensic expertise to bring history to life in service to the community.

January 23 has been designated the feast day of Mother Marianne Cope, a German-born American Franciscan nun who traveled from Syracuse, New York to the Kingdom of Hawai‘i in the late 1800s to help build the kingdom’s medical infrastructure. She’s credited with modernizing healthcare practices and establishing hospitals on the mainland and in the islands, but she is most famous for her work tending to the spiritual and medical needs of leprosy patients at Kalaupapa, Moloka‘i with the legendary Father Damien.

Born Barbara Koob on January 23, 1838, Mother Marianne died of natural causes in Kalaupapa in 1918. Most of her surviving skeleton was laid to rest at the Cathedral Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in downtown Honolulu, but hundreds of bone fragments remained embedded in soil at her original gravesite on Moloka‘i.

Now, Chaminade University’s Forensic Sciences Unit has been enlisted to help collect these remains at the request of the Church. It’s the first time the Catholic Marianist institution has been called up to assist the Church in this manner.

The remains will be shared among all the main Hawaiian Islands.

“This project is going on because one of our pastors suggested that each island should have a relic of Saint Damien and Saint Marianne,” Bishop Clarence “Larry” Silva, head of the Diocese of Honolulu, said in an interview.

“We have one here of course from each of them. Moloka‘i, of course, has also. But we want to make sure the other islands do, so that’s why,” Bishop Silva explained. “We’ll be able to do that now with these bone fragments we have here and ones that I have that were from Father Damien.”

Forensic anthropologist Vincent Sava is leading the work at one of Chaminade’s campus forensic sciences lab, using sifters and microscopes to separate bone from soil and rock, preserving Mother Marianne’s earthly remains for relics and ceremonies.

“This right here, that’s the result of about 10 to 12 hours of work,” Sava said, holding up a small vial filled only partially with tiny chips of Mother Marianne’s bones. “And these are actually relatively large fragments.”

Carlos Gutiérrez Ayala MS ’16, Director and Assistant Professor of the Forensic Sciences Unit at Chaminade’s School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, said this work with Sava and the Catholic Church is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for students and the university. When Sava reached out to him for help, Gutiérrez said he jumped at the opportunity.

“This is the first time, that’s why we’re super happy to give them the help that they need,” he said. “This is a special situation. It’s also forensic work. Different forensic work. We usually work with crimes and trying to help the victims and the community; in this case it’s a totally different way but it’s still a forensic analysis process.”

Chaminade University junior and forensic science major Samantha Casarrubias agreed. When hearing of the opportunity to help the Catholic Church recover the remains of Saint Marriane, she and fellow forensics student Emma Rosales volunteered right away, giving up a three-day weekend. Casarrubias said the week-long project is “very time consuming and tedious, but it’s good work.”

“Yesterday, I was here from 9 am to almost 4 and I haven’t even filled a petri dish yet,” she said.

Sava predicted the work would take about one week to complete. From there, “I turn everything back over to the Church, and then it’s up to them to distribute or dispose of the material as they see fit,” Sava said.

Mother Marianne was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2004. The following year, Sava led a team to exhume her skeleton from her grave on Moloka‘i. Mother Marianne achieved sainthood in 2011 through canonization by Pope Benedict XVI. Her skeleton was interred in a reliquary at the Basilica in 2014.

Over the years, Sava has been enlisted by the Church to gather remains and historical artefacts from the gravesites of important figures. The scale of this challenge led Sava to reach out to his former student, Gutiérrez, and the Chaminade University Forensic Sciences Unit for help.

“Some of the sisters collected up a lot of that soil and they had it stored over the years, and when the church needs relics for ceremonies or to give to other parishes or other churches, we end up extracting what we need from the soil that was collected during the exhumation,” Sava said.

He explained that Hawai‘i’s volcanic soil isn’t kind to human remains. “The soil is very hard on bone,” he said. Decades of decay and deterioration resulted in hundreds of bone fragments left embedded in the ground when Mother Marianne’s skeletal remains were first removed.

The soil is run through sifters and multiple layers of screens, each layer designed to separate large particles from smaller, finer-grained material until only the smallest particles remain. Sava and Chaminade University students then take this material and place it under microscopes for analysis. Sava trained the students on how to recognize bone from dirt and rock, a critical skill in forensic science.

Samples are scrutinized and bone fragments are carefully collected using special equipment. The fragments are then placed in vials.

The Bishop visited the lab on Chaminade’s campus on Wednesday to assess Sava and the students’ progress, accompanied by Chaminade University President Lynn Babington. He said Saint Marianne’s history of uplifting the patients of Kalaupapa with joy, compassion, and faith is worth celebrating and is what makes this work so important.

“She was very much a healer in many ways, and of course it’s due to her faith that she trusted in God that she could do this very challenging work and not contract leprosy,” Bishop Silva said. 

Gutiérrez said he, his students, and the advanced forensic facilities at Chaminade University’s campus are always available to the Church for this and other forensic work in the future, should the need arise. “It’s up to the Catholic Church. If they need more help, we are happy to.”

Forensic Sciences Professor Recognized For Research on High-Profile Case

Carlos Gutiérrez Ayala, Ph.D., an assistant professor of Forensic Sciences at Chaminade, received the American Academy of Forensic Sciences’ prestigious Robert Gaffney Achievement Award at the 77th Annual Scientific Conference this spring.

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Gutiérrez Ayala received the honor for his case research and oral presentation, “Forensic Reconstruction and Forensic Taphonomy: An Experiment for a High-Profile Case Conducted for the First Time in Chile.” His work was recognized for its innovation, scientific rigor, and global relevance, marking a significant contribution to the advancement of forensic science research and practice.

The Robert Gaffney Achievement Award aims to promote ongoing professional development in forensic sciences and support emerging leaders in the field.

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“I feel very proud to receive this national award,” Gutiérrez Ayala said, adding that the research was linked to a high-profile case in Chile.

“Thanks to the forensic results of this case research, I was able to provide all the necessary answers for this case and present them to my colleagues at the AAFS Conference.”

Gail Grabowsky, Ph.D., dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, said Ayala’s work “continues to inspire and elevate the field of forensic science.”

She added, “We are thrilled to see his case research receive the recognition it deserves.”

Students Learn with Cutting-Edge Forensics Tech

Forensic Sciences students at Chaminade have a new state-of-the-art tool for learning.

The SuperSpectral device, used to analyze physical evidence, is being made available to students thanks to an agreement between Chaminade University’s School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and the product’s maker—Forenscope Scientific Technology, Ltd.

Carlos Gutierrez, D.F.S., assistant professor of Forensic Science, said the device allows forensic experts to visualize physical evidence—from blood to fingerprints to gunshot residue—at different wavelengths so that it can be more quickly and fully analyzed.

Gutierrez said the equipment will be used by Forensic Sciences students in different classrooms, laboratories and for research.

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“Having this technology in the Forensic Science Program is a huge improvement in how forensic sciences are taught because the students can have access and learn how to use this equipment and also search and identify real physical evidence,” he said. “Also, the students can be part of research and present their results.”

Forenscope notes the device has broad implications for forensic investigations, giving scientists a new way to analyze evidence and catch details that might be missed with traditional techniques. “This can help to solve crimes,” the company said.

Carlos Gutierrez, D.F.S., assistant professor of Forensic Sciences (center), poses with representatives from Forenscope Scientific Technology, Ltd.

Forenscope Scientific CEO Mr. Osman Eşki added the agreement will allow Chaminade to conduct research “using the best multispectral technology available in the forensic market.”

Gail Grabowsky, Ph.D., dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, said offering students access to the advanced technology will ensure Chaminade Forensic Sciences graduates “will be ready to serve the community” and excel in their careers.

Additionally, Gutierrez will be offering free online workshops on the device.

Students Investigative ‘Crime Scene’ in Waikiki

The “crime scene” in Waikiki drew more than a few curious glances from beachgoers and passersby.

But it wasn’t police investigating the site. Instead, Chaminade University Forensic Sciences students—in official CSI gear—were the ones collecting evidence and documenting the scene.

The mock crime scene was set up in early April as a hands-on learning opportunity, allowing students to practice critical forensic skills.

“They feel the reality of being in an actual crime scene,” said Carlos Gutierrez, D.F.S., assistant professor of Forensic Science. “They’re applying all the skills they learned during the semester in a more specific and realistic scenario.”



Chaminade’s Forensic Sciences program is known for its practical approach, blending rigorous academics with real-world applications. The setup in Waikiki demonstrated Chaminade’s commitment to hands-on learning, giving students a chance to navigate complex investigative procedures under faculty supervision, Gutierrez said.

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The major in Forensic Sciences includes instruction on the techniques used for recognizing, documenting and analyzing physical evidence, reviews of the legal system and ethical guidelines that govern forensic sciences, and hands-on applications of the scientific method in a lab.

All Forensics Sciences students are required to complete a rigorous, 135-hour internship. Students have completed internships with a variety of entities, including the Honolulu Department of the Medical Examiner, police departments in Hawaii and Guam, and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command’s Central Identification Laboratory.

To learn more about Chaminade’s Forensic Sciences program, click here.

Beach Transformed for CSI Simulation

Chaminade University Forensic Sciences students drew curious glances at a mock crime scene investigation held at Kaimana Beach this week. A field was transformed into a simulated investigation zone as students in full CSI gear took notes and captured crime scene photos.

Also in Campus News: Forensic Sciences Research in Spotlight

Organizers said the mock crime scene investigation allows students to put theory into practice. Participants practiced evidence collection and analysis along with meticulous scene documentation.

Chaminade Forensic Sciences students document a mock crime scene at Kaimana Beach.

Chaminade’s Forensic Sciences program is known for its hands-on approach to learning, blending rigorous academics with real-world applications. The realistic set-up in Waikiki demonstrated Chaminade’s commitment to giving students opportunities to learn by doing.

To read more about Forensic Sciences at Chaminade, click here.