February 9, 2022
The UWs Center for Environmental Forensic Science is working globally to stop poaching endangered wildlife species, including elephants. Researchers can extract DNA form ivory seizures such as this one in Hong Kong 2017 to help law enforcement identify transnational criminal organisations.WildAid
Endangered species are at high risk of being illegally poached all over the globe. African elephants are prized for their ivory, rhinoceros and armadillo like pangolins for the protection and brittle scales. There are many valuable trees that are environmentally sensitive that are illegally harvested around the world. This is in addition to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing which is destroying the oceans. These illicit markets, which are estimated to be $1 trillion annually, have enormous environmental impacts and the potential for unleashing new, deadly pathogens.
Now, a group of University of Washington Professors is leading an effort against these crimes. The UWs Center for Environmental Forensic ScienceIt is an unique interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers; state, national and international law enforcement agency; nongovernmental organisations; and the private industry that aims disrupting and dismantling transnational organized crime.
Ana Mari Cauce, President of UW, stated that this important project is a great example of how UW scientists innovate across disciplines to benefit the public good. Our natural world will be preserved for future generations by working to protect endangered species and stop transnational criminals tampering with illegal goods.
John Hermanson, Samuel Wasser are co-executive directors.John Simeone, University of Washington
The center was founded last fall with state funding. It will now be managed by co-executive directorsSamuel Wasser, a UW Professor in the Department of Biology and John Hermanson (a UW Research Scientist in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences), were honored. It will expand and replace the UW Center for Conservation Biology’s work.
The team will strengthen existing relationships across the globe and work closely with law enforcement to create cutting-edge tools, data-driven analyses, and help authorities identify transnational organized criminals and bring them before they are brought to justice.
Nearly 40 additional scholars from UWs are part of the group, including the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences School of Public Health and the Burke Museum. Participating faculty from other universities also participate. U.S. Forest Service International Programs, U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Singapore National Parks, the Container Control Programme of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime and the World Customs Organization are some of those involved. U.S. Forest Service International Programs and Homeland Security Investigations were involved. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife was also involved.
Wasser stated that the combination of government and nongovernmental collaborators including scientists and NGOs on the ground creates a highly experienced, complementary forum that draws from long-standing experiences working in source and transit country and the trust that it instills. This allows us to ask the right questions and also gives us unprecedented access to large seizures environmental contraband. This provides the raw material needed for the follow-up investigation.
Wasser pioneered genetic methods that could be used to identify elephant poaching hotspots in Africa, track the number of major ivory traffickers operating around the world, and reveal the strategies that transnational organized criminal syndicates use for acquiring and moving their contraband. The November incident was a recent example of how the group collaborates and works with law enforcement. Two major ivory traffickers were captured near SeattleFrom the Democratic Republic of Congo
A Peruvian official uses a XyloTron in order to identify wood species. John C. Hermanson was the co-executive director of CEFS and invented the machine to detect illegally harvested timber.CITEmadera-Lima
Similar methods have been used by Hermanson to track illegally harvested wood. He was the leader of the development of the XyloTronThe machine vision device scans timber to identify species. Hermanson also co-developed the device. Arbor HarborWith the support from U.S. Forest Service International Programs. This is a trees–to-trade reference program that helps authorities identify illegal timber shipments. It aggregates and vets information on taxonomy as well as geographic origin, conservation, trade regulations, and other relevant information.
These transnational organized criminal acts of environmental crime are becoming more sophisticated. Competent authorities need the most up-to-date tools to keep up. Hermanson stated that the center’s main focus is to develop technology-for-good tools.
The combined efforts of the scientists have led to prosecutions against major transnational criminal organizations. They also established relationships with a wide variety of law enforcement, NGOs, and other groups who are working to end illegal wildlife and timber trades. Some of these criminal organizations are involved in narcotics trafficking and other illegal activities.
Through members of the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and other organizations, the center addresses illegal, unreported and unsanctioned (IUU) fishing. IUU fishing is a threat to fish stocks and ecosystems. It has replaced piracy as the most serious maritime security threat.
Unregulated wildlife consumption has been responsible for many past pandemics including COVID-19. UW Alliance for Pandemic PreparednessMembers of the Brotman-Batty Institute Advanced Technology LabMonitoring wildlife products for emerging infectious diseases.
The center program is a force multiplier. It works almost infinitum,” said Washington state Senator Jesse Salomon (D-Shoreline), who in 2021 helped secure $1million in funding for the center. It is hard for me to watch our majestic wildlife elephants, rhinoceros, and old-growth trees disappearing in front of our eyes.
Wasser stated that a new approach is needed to combine multiple state of the art tools to uncover connections between illegal wildlife shipment and to link multiple seizures with transnational criminal organizations exporting them.
This [hypothesis-driven approach]Wasser stated that this allows law enforcement agencies to see the whole of the picture instead of focusing on a single crime prosecution, which rarely addresses root causes.
The center’s work is crucial to port security. There are thousands of large shipping containers from all over the world that are imported and exported. This creates opportunities for trafficking and interdiction. 70% of all goods are shipped by sea in shipping containers.
Transnational criminal organizations are maximizing this advantage, Wasser explained. Once they get their contraband into a container and through customs, at the port of import, it is hidden in the legal trading, making it more difficult to trace.
Seattle, like many major ports, was hit hard by the COVID pandemic. The U.S. Coast Guard tries to identify suspicious containers, but customs officials want to find the “needle in the haystack” when it comes to contraband. Fred Felleman, Port of Seattle Commissioner, said that while the Coast Guard attempts to track down suspicious containers, the customs officials are still trying to find the right one. The new center will allow authorities to quickly identify which containers must be opened and speed up the process.
A team of dogs from the Conservation Canines program is being trained to quickly scan many containers for contraband. Air from shipping container vents passes through odor collection pads. They are then presented to detection canines at a nearby site. In collaboration with Homeland Security Investigations, the Northwest Seaport Alliance and the Port of Seattle, officials plan to pilot the method. Felleman stated that it was sensible to tap the expertise of the UW. It also helps that the university is an independent institution and will bring together a wide coalition of partners.
Felleman stated that the challenge in any bureaucracy, even multiple bureaucracies is to have the left and right hands talk to each other. The UW could be a significant step in the right directions and offer many benefits.
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For more information, contact Wasser @ [email protected] and Hermanson @ [email protected].
Tag(s) : Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness Burke Museum of Natural History & Culture Center for Environmental and Forensic Science College of Arts & Sciences John Hermanson Paul G. Allen Schools of Computer Science & Engineering Samuel Wasser Academy of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences School of Environmental and Forest Sciences School of Public Health