Nicole S. Jones

Nicole Jones is the Director of the Investigative Sciences Program and a Certified Cyber Crime Examiner (3CE). She has a proven ability to effectively develop and manage executive-level initiatives and has directed contracts, IDIQ awards and grants funded by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and the National Institute of Justice (NIJ). Additionally, she was the Associate Director for the NIJ Forensic Technology Center of Excellence and is the Quality Assurance Program Manager for the NIJ National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs) Program. She has more than 25 years of experience in chemical analysis, business development and proposal writing, quality systems management, and quality assurance. Ms. Jones also has been responsible for evaluating CFS–supported U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) grant activities, including technology evaluation, technology assistance, and technology transfer. She currently serves on the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium (U.S. AISIC) Working Groups for synthetic content and capability evaluations to address current AI issues including risk management, the development of science backed standards, best practices, and evaluation and auditing capabilities to support the development of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI technologies. She also served on the Scientific Working Group on Digital Evidence quality committee and committee on Artificial Intelligence and Forensics. Ms. Jones has served as the Task Leader and liaison for the NIJ Forensic Science Technology Working Group, the NIJ Forensic Laboratory Needs Technology Working Group (FLN-TWG) and the FBI Technical Working Group on 3-Dimensional Toolmark Technologies (TWG3D2T). Since 2013, she has been a member of the Interpol Forensic Science Managers Committee on behalf of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). She holds a current Public Trust Security Clearance through the DOJ.

Ms. Jones is a recognized subject matter expert, policy analyst, and project manager for criminal justice initiatives, including forensic science, critical incident, risk management, quality assurance standards and best practices and death investigation programs. She combines her experience, technical knowledge, and business acumen to set a clear vision and achieve mission objectives. She develops results-driven strategies, and leverages extensive experience working with government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and key stakeholders to develop policy and improve practice. Ms. Jones has developed validation protocols for implementing new instrumentation and new technologies for use in forensic laboratories. In support of ISO accreditation and standards adoption, Ms. Jones develops innovative solutions to enhance the understanding, visibility, transparency, and effectiveness of current laboratory process to facilitate better clarity, assistance, decision‐making, and process improvement in forensic science. 

Before joining RTI, Ms. Jones served as the Lead Auditor and Quality Assurance Officer at General Engineering Laboratories (GEL) in Charleston, SC. While at GEL, she worked on the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) implementation team and was responsible for validating the system. She also worked closely with the Naval Weapons Station to develop methods for explosive detection using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry detection (LC-MS/MS) and conducted training for inspectors to assist them in identification of fraudulent laboratory practices. While at GEL, she was also responsible for the ISO accreditation initiative.