Faculty & Staff Profiles

Brooke Weinger Kammrath, Ph.D., ABC-GKE

Professor
Co-Executive Director, Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science

Department of Forensic Science
Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences

For the Media

Email Media Relations
Brooke Kammrath

Education

Ph.D., The Graduate Center/CUNY, 2012
M.Phil., The Graduate Center/CUNY, 2011
M.A., John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY, 2010
M.S., John Jay College of Criminal Justice/CUNY, 2007
M.A., New York University, 2003
B.A., Northwestern University, 2000

About Brooke

Dr. Brooke Kammrath is an internationally recognized forensic science researcher and mentor, with a varied research agenda that includes the uniting of microscopy with spectroscopy, the identification and characterization of microscopic samples of forensic interest, the statistical analysis of trace, pattern and impression evidence, portable instrumentation, and investigations into the significance and impact of physical evidence.

Dr. Kammrath is a past-president of the New York Microscopical Society (NYMS), and on the Governing Boards of NYMS, the Society for Applied Spectroscopy (SAS) and the Eastern Analytical Symposium (EAS). She serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Forensic Sciences and for Applied Spectroscopy Practica. She is also a certified criminalist by the American Board of Criminalistics (ABC).

Dr. Kammrath was featured in a profile published in WILEY Analytical Science Magazine (December 2022, Vol 8).

Recently Published Scholarly Work

Books

  1. Reffner, J.A., Kammrath, B.W. (Eds.) (2023). Solving Problems with Microscopy: Real‐life Examples in Forensic, Life and Chemical Sciences. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 978-1119788225.
  2. De Forest P.R., Pizzola, P. and Kammrath, B.W. (2021). Blood Traces: Interpretation of Deposition and Distribution. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 978-1119764533.
  3. Crocombe, R, Leary, P.E. and Kammrath, B.W. (Eds.). (2021). Portable Spectroscopy and Spectrometry 1: Technologies and Instrumentation. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 978-1119636366.
  4. Crocombe, R, Leary, P.E. and Kammrath, B.W. (Eds.) (2021). Portable Spectroscopy and Spectrometry 2: Applications. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN: 978-1119636403.

Book Chapters

  1. Leary, P.E., Crocombe, R.A., Kammrath, B.W. (2023). Detection and analysis of counterfeit drugs. In Trends In Counterfeit Drugs, Elkins, K.M. (Ed.): CRC Press (Taylor and Francis). ISBN: 978-1003183327.
  2. Kammrath, B.W. (2021). The Application of Statistics In Fingermark Aging Research. In Technologies for Fingermark Age Estimations: Strengthening the Reliability of Crime Evidence, Fossoul, J. (Ed.): Springer. ISBN: 978-3-030-69337-4.
  1. Leary, P.E., Kammrath, B.W., Reffner, J.A. (2021). Portable Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry: Instrumentation and Applications. In Portable Spectroscopy and Spectrometry, Volume 1: Technologies and Instrumentation, Crocombe, R (Ed.), Leary, P.E. (Ed.) and Kammrath, B.W. (Ed.): Wiley. ISBN: 978-1119636366.
  2. Crocombe, R.A., Leary, P.E., Kammrath, B.W. (2021). The Role of Applications in Portable Spectroscopy. In Portable Spectroscopy and Spectrometry, Volume 2: Applications, Crocombe, R.A. (Ed.), Leary, P.E. (Ed.) and Kammrath, B.W. (Ed.): Wiley. ISBN: 978-1119636403.
  3. Kammrath, B.W., Leary, P.E., Reffner, J.A. (2021). Forensic Applications of Portable Spectroscopy. In Portable Spectroscopy and Spectrometry, Volume 2: Applications, Crocombe, R.A. (Ed.), Leary, P.E. (Ed.) and Kammrath, B.W. (Ed.): Wiley. ISBN: 978-1119636403.
  4. Koutrakos, A.C., Leary, P.E., Kammrath, B.W. (2018). Illicit and counterfeit drug analysis by morphologically directed Raman spectroscopy. In Analysis of Drugs of Abuse (in Springer Protocols, Methods In Molecular Biology 1810), Musah, R.A. (Ed.), (pp. 13-27). Humana Press. ISBN: 978-1493985784.

Journal Articles (peer reviewed)

  1. Crocombe, R., Kammrath, B.W., Leary, P.E., Tague, T., Costa, W. (2024, accepted). Lego® Blocks as ‘Standard’ Samples for Evaluation of Fluorescence Avoidance and Mitigation in Raman Spectroscopy, Applied Spectroscopy.
  2. Leary, P. E., Kizzire, K. L., Chan Chao, R., Niedziejko, M., Martineau, N., Kammrath, B. W. (2023). Evaluation of portable gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) for the analysis of fentanyl, fentanyl analogs, and other synthetic opioids. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 68(5), 1601-1614. DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.15340.
  1. Cargill, K.R., Fikiet, M.A., Kammrath, B.W. (2022). The use of thin layer chromatography combined with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy for the identification of controlled substances. Asian Journal of Physics, 31(2): 265-282.
  2. De Alcaraz‐Fossoul, J., Einfalt, M.R., Kammrath, B.W. (2022). The Influence of Biological Sex on Latent Fingermark Aging as Examined by the Color Contrast Technique. Forensic Science International.
  3. De Alcaraz‐Fossoul, J., Roberts, K.A., Johnson, C.A., Barrot Feixat, C., Tully‐Doyle, R., Kammrath, B.W. (2021). Fingermark ridge drift: Influencing factors of a not‐so‐rare aging phenomenon. Journal of forensic sciences, 66(4): 1472-1481. DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.14710.
  4. Moquin, K., Leary, P.E., Kammrath, B.W. (2020). Optimized Explosives Analysis Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry for Battlefield Forensics. Current Trends in Mass Spectrometry, http://www.spectroscopyonline.com/optimized-explosives-analysis-using-portable-gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometry-battlefield-fore-0.
  5. Reffner, J.A., Kammrath, B.W., Kaplan, S. (2020). A More Efficient Method for Synthetic Textile Fiber Analysis Using Polarized Light Microscopy. Journal of Forensic Sciences. 65(3): 744-750. DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.14252.
  6. Kruglak, K.J., Dubnicka, M., Kammrath, B.W., Maxwell, V., Reffner, J.A. (2019). The Evidentiary Significance of Automotive Paints from the Northeast: A Study of Red Paint. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 64(5), 1345-1358. DOI: 10.1111/1556-4029.14007.
  7. Leary, P.E., Kammrath, B.W., Lattman, K.J., Beals, G.L., (2019). Deploying Portable GC-MS to Military Users for the Identification of Toxic Chemical Agents in Theater. Applied Spectroscopy. DOI: 10.1177/0003702819849499.
  8. Buzzini, P., Kammrath, B.W., De Forest, P. (2019). Trace evidence? The term trace from adjective to noun. WIREs Forensic Science. DOI: 10.1002/wfs2.1342.
  9. Guerrera, G., Chen, E., Powers, R., Kammrath, B.W. (2019). The Potential Interference of Body Products and Substrates to the Identification of Ignitable Liquid Residues on Worn Clothing. Forensic Chemistry, 12, 46-57. DOI: 10.1016/j.forc.2018.11.007.
  10. San Pietro, D., Kammrath, B.W., De Forest, P.R. (2019). Is Forensic Science In Danger of Extinction?. Science & Justice, 59, 199-202. DOI: 10.1016/j.scijus.2018.11.003.
  11. Lieblein, D., McMahon, M.E., Leary, P.E., Massey, P., Kammrath, B.W. (2018) A Comparison of Portable Infrared Spectrometers, Portable Raman Spectrometers, and Color-Based Field Tests for the On-Scene Analysis of Cocaine. Spectroscopy, 33(12), 2-8.
  12. Kammrath, B.W., Koutrakos, A., Castillo, J., Langley, C., Huck-Jones, D. (2018). Morphologically-Directed Raman Spectroscopy for Forensic Soil Analysis. Forensic Science International, 285, e25-e33. DOI: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.12.034.
  13. Kammrath, B.W., Koutrakos, A., Leary, P.E., Castillo, J., Wolfgang, J., Huck-Jones, D. (2018). Morphologically Directed Raman Spectroscopic Analysis of Forensic Samples. Spectroscopy, 33(1), 46-53.

Journal Articles (other)

  1. Kammrath, B.W., Purcell, D. (2023). Forget Me Not: Poorly understood and rarely emphasized by instrument manufacturers, is a lack of respect for microscopy holding back the microspectroscopy field?. The Analytical Scientist. https://theanalyticalscientist.com/techniques-tools/forget-me-not.
  2. Crocombe, R.A., Kammrath, B.W., Leary, P.E (2023). Portable Raman Spectrometers: How Small Can They Get?. Spectroscopy - Spectroscopy Supplement: Raman Technology for Today’s Spectroscopists, 38(S6): 32-40.
  1. Crocombe, R.A., Leary, P.E., Kammrath, B.W. (2021). Packing Light – Spectroscopy Goes Mobile. Photonics Spectra. https://www.photonics.com/Articles/Packing_Light_Spectroscopy_Goes_Mobile/a66471
  2. Kammrath, B.W. (2020). Combining Spectroscopy with Microscopy for Advancing the Analysis of Forensically Relevant Traces. Spectroscopy.
    * Invited Contributor for 35th Anniversary Issue.
  3. San Pietro, D., Kammrath, B.W. (2018). Forensic Science: A Forensic Scientist’s Perspective. The SciTech Lawyer. pp 34-37

Encyclopedia Articles

  1. McMahon, M.E., Kammrath, B.W., Bender, L. B.-C. (2023) Paint: Overview. In: Max M. Houck (ed.) Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences, Third Edition, vol. 4, pp. 81–87. Oxford: Elsevier.
  2. McMahon, M.E., Kammrath, B.W., Bender, L. B.-C. (2023) Interpretation of Paint Evidence. In: Max M. Houck (ed.) Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences, Third Edition, vol. 3, pp. 325–333. Oxford: Elsevier.
  1. McMahon, M.E., Kammrath, B.W., Bender, L. B.-C. (2023) Automotive Paint. In: Max M. Houck (ed.) Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences, Third Edition, vol. 1, pp. 240-252. Oxford: Elsevier.
  2. Leary, P.E., Kammrath, B.W., Reffner, J.A. (2018). Field Portable Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Instrumentation. Encyclopedia of Analytical Chemistry.

Webinars

  1. Kammrath, B.W., Leary, P.E. (July 6, 2023). Confronting the Drug Epidemic with Portable Spectroscopy. Photonics Spectra.
    https://www.photonics.com/Webinars/Confronting_the_Drug_Epidemic_with_Portable/w662
  2. Kammrath, B.W. (February 28, 2022). New Directions in Forensic Science Applications of LIBS. Advances in Atomic Spectroscopy.
    https://www.spectroscopyonline.com/view/advances-in-atomic-spectroscopy
  1. Kammrath, B.W., Leary, P.E., and Hargreaves, M. (June 3, 2021). Portable Spectroscopy within Forensics, Law Enforcement, Safety and Security. Presented by The Coblentz Society, The Society for Applied Spectroscopy, and Wiley Analytical Science.
    https://analyticalscience.wiley.com/do/10.1002/was.00050219
  2. Kammrath, B.W. and Kansiz, M. (October 21, 2020). Forensic Paint Analysis with Simultaneous Submicron Optical Photothermal Infrared (O-PTIR) and Raman Microspectroscopy. Photothermal Spectroscopy Corp.
    https://www.photothermal.com/webinars/
Related Links Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic SciencesB.S. in Forensic ScienceM.S. in Forensic ScienceHenry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science

News and In the Media

In the Media

The Analytical Scientist: The Power List 2025

In the Media

Portland Herald Press: Forensic experts debate how Standish woman died in 2021 shooting

In the Media

Spectroscopy: The Future of Forensic Analysis: An Interview with Brooke Kammrath