A Bermudian forensic scientist who helped crack the case of one of Canada’s worst serial killers will discuss her career at a public meeting tonight.

Desiree Spriggs, whose expertise has also been used in Bermuda court cases, will detail her job at a meeting designed to promote Bermuda College’s science week.

Dr Spriggs said: “It starts at the crime scene, and goes through many processes and procedures to get you to the point of expert witnesses testifying in court, based on those findings.”

The free 6pm lecture at the college’s North Hall will outline the painstaking journey from the collection of traces to the production of evidence.

She said forensic science roles in Bermuda were limited, but led to connections abroad.

She added: “You make relationships with people in different areas from the DEA to the FBI and you learn who to call if you need help from the US or Canada. Everyone’s quite connected internationally, and through training you have the ability to take courses elsewhere.”

Her expertise in toxicology has been used by the New York City Police Department and her DNA tracing skills helped the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s investigation into Robert Picton.

Picton, a serial killer from British Columbia, convicted in 2007 of murdering six women.

Picton, dubbed the pig farm killer, later confessed to 49 murders.

Dr Spriggs said: “That was a big international case. You can’t say it’s a privilege, but it was something like that as a scientist, to be part of what was unfolding.

“You don’t think about crime. It’s just results-driven. As an expert witness, you’re impartial. You are not for either side. You just give the evidence based on science.”

Dr Spriggs said she hoped to show other Bermudians that they could aim for a similar specialised role.

She set up her own DNA analysis laboratory, Helix Genetic & Scientific Solutions in Hamilton in 2015 and has since expanded into clinical chemistry.

Dr Spriggs trained in forensic medicine at Glasgow University in Scotland in the 1990s and was later awarded a PhD in toxicology and drug chemistry.

She is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a chartered chemist, and chartered scientist.

She finished her studies in 1999 and started work in Bermuda as a government analyst. She has often testified in island courts and has also provided forensic DNA services to the Bermuda Police Service. Dr Spriggs is speaking as part of the college’s Corange science week for 2020.

She said: “They highlight different scientific researchers that are Bermudian. There are Bermudians in this field, although, right now, it is quite saturated. But we are also asked at times to assist in the Caribbean region as well.”

Dr Spriggs added: “The college is pushing to get more young Bermudians involved in the medical, technological or nursing area. There is a host of scientific disciplines you can get involved in.

“As a scientist, you can find yourself in any division of a career, as long as you get the training and the qualification.”