Pilar Layton
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics
18 March, 2018
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
[Accessed 18 Mar. 2018].
This article was about a case where authorities were having trouble catching zimbabwean rhinoceros poacher Rogers Mukwena until they began using a new tactic- genetic fingerprinting of the rhino DNA. The first step was to build a DNA database of blood, tissue and hair samples from over 20,000 rhinos, an effort led by Dr. Cindy Harper at the University of Pretoria. From there, investigators would be able to match a rhino carcass to DNA found on horns in the possession of suspects, blood on their clothes or on their knives or axes. Park rangers were taught how to correctly retrieve these samples, as well as “forensic crime-scene principles and the importance of the so-called chain of custody.” The main target of these investigations is actually the traffickers, not the poachers, because catching the poachers won’t achieve much in the long run. There will always be “10 more waiting in line to replace them,” but catching the traffickers can destroy the very foundations of the trade. Dr. Sam Wasser at the University of Washington compares it to the difference between catching a one-time murderer and catching a serial killer.
Poaching remains a relevant issue and a threat to many species of endangered animals. “Pound for pound, a rhino horn is worth more than heroin or gold” which makes the trade very lucrative, and it’s also something that rarely results in prosecution, which has allowed it to flourish at the cost of thousands of animal lives. The article states that over 7,000 rhinos have been killed in the past decade, and an estimate from the World Wildlife Fund says that 20,000 - 30,000 African elephants are killed for their tusks each year. Poaching is a crime, and in the words of WWF director of traffic Crawford Allan, it’s time for people to “treat it as a crime scene and use forensics.”
Overall I thought the article was very well written and informative. It gave details about both rhinoceros and elephant poaching, statistical information about both, and had many quotes from leaders of the various projects and investigations that are trying to catch the most serious offenders. I definitely feel like it was very in depth and well researched, but also remained clear and easy to read.
18 comments:
Alexander Plaza
Mr.Ippolito
3/18/18
Forensics Comment
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
Pilar, I read your review of “In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers” by G. Kolata and I thought that you did a good job. I thought that you did a decent job with making your summary of the article brief yet informative. I was not confused about your topic. This is good for the readers since it creates a understanding of the subject matter for your review. Also, I like that your summary includes quotes from experts. It adds credibility to your article and review. Finally, I like the way you look at a unique crime like poaching that we normally don’t think of needing forensic investigation.
Although your article was good, there are some things that you could improve on. First, I could be helpful if you added some background information on the severity and history of poaching and the problems it can cause. It would be useful in understanding the article. Also, I believe that you could polish the wording of the article a bit as it would be convenient to the reader.
Overall, I enjoyed your review. It’s interesting to see forensic science being applied to save the environment and help biodiversity.
Ayten El-Hennawy
Current Event 19
3/18/18
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
Pilar’s review of the article “In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers” was very well written and interesting to read. I liked how PIlar started out her review by explaining what the article was talking about and made sure the reader understood what was going on. I also liked how she included many quotes throughout her review in order to make it better. Lastly, I liked how she included her opinion on the article towards the end of her review and talked about what made it a good article.
I think Pilar’s review could’ve improved if she talked a little bit more about background information regarding this topic. I also think her review wouldve been better if she related the topic more to our class.
I think it’s very interesting how forensic science is being used in order to help the environment and i think it’s amazing to see people trying to make effort to help environment.
Andrew Rotchford
Mr.Ippolito
3/18/18
Forensics Comment
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
Pilar's review of “In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers” by G. Kolata was very interesting and she does a good job reviewing the article. The first thing I want to give her credit for is that she does a great job making a summary of the article, giving us the important topics. Making sure the reader understands the important topics is crucial and giving a review because it conveys the message that the author was trying to get. By doing this she has made the reader of her review get an understanding as well. Also a good thing that she did was add quotes from the review, it gives more validity to her statements.
Two suggestions that I would give her would be, first to add more background information on the history of poaching and how it can affect the ecosystem. Some rereading of the article could give you more understanding.
She did a great job in her review of the article and it is important to keep on talking about these subjects are ecosystems stay healthy.
Andrew Rotchford
Mr.Ippolito
3/18/18
Forensics Comment
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
Pilar's review of “In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers” by G. Kolata was very interesting and she does a good job reviewing the article. The first thing I want to give her credit for is that she does a great job making a summary of the article, giving us the important topics. Making sure the reader understands the important topics is crucial and giving a review because it conveys the message that the author was trying to get. By doing this she has made the reader of her review get an understanding as well. Also a good thing that she did was add quotes from the review, it gives more validity to her statements.
Two suggestions that I would give her would be, first to add more background information on the history of poaching and how it can affect the ecosystem. Some rereading of the article could give you more understanding.
She did a great job in her review of the article and it is important to keep on talking about these subjects are ecosystems stay healthy.
Gordon Hoffman
Mr.Ippolito
3/18/18
Forensics Comment
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
Overall Pilar’s review of “In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers” was very well done. I thought her summary was short but overall well written and did a good job giving the reader a good idea of the article. I thought that this was also a very interesting topic to choose because it was something I haven’t heard about and it ties into our class. I also thought that it was good of Pilar to use quotes in her review as it added credibility. Although Pilar did a good job with her review there are two things she could have added to her review. First I would have talked about the background of poaching in Africa and why this is such a big deal. It also would have been nice if she talked about how this has actually been performing in the real world. From this article I learned about genetic fingerprinting and how it is used to solve crimes in the real world. Overall I thought Pilar did a good job with her review and I could see how this connected to our class.
Catherine Faville
Forensics
Current event
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
My classmate Pilar wrote a really good analysis on the article “ In Africa, Genetics are hunting Poachers” written by Gina Kolata. Pilar did a good job in adding a lot of important and informative summary that provided me with a lot of important information. She added in quotes directly from the article from the case. She went into extreme detail about the dangers of poaching, how the dangers they bring to many of the animal species.
Although she wrote a thorough review of the article, it would have been a more interesting analysis to read if she added in some critiques on the issue as well rather than just having it as all good. Also if she were to add more of her own personal opinion to the review, it would have made it more interesting and personal to read.
After reading the response and the article, i learned a lot about the harmful effects of poaching, and i also learned a new tactic for finding pupatrators through rhino DNA. It is interesting to see the different effects forensics has in everyday life, in addition how the expanding genera has been growing and drastically changing things that seemed impossible beforehand.
Jack Harwood 3/18/18
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
Pilar Layton’s review on the article “In Africa, Geneticists are Hunting Poachers” by Gina Kolata is very interesting to read. Pilar did a great job summarizing the story and providing lots of background details on utilizing graphics and technology. She also supplied the reader with very informative details and specific statistics. Lastly, I felt that you did a great job at explaining why it is relevant in modern society by explaining what forensic scientists could do wrong.
I believe your review could have been significantly better if your writing flowed better. It was slightly choppy and it felt like you were just listing facts. However, that being said, it allowed me to remember and understand your review more clearly. Also, I would have like to see more quotes from the author. It validates your points and with ethos, it makes your review more credible.
Overall I thought that Pilar did a great job with the article and this was a very interesting read. I expect that more breakthroughs like this one will emerge in the future and I can’t wait to hear about them.
Scott McGrath
3/18/18
Current Event 19
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
[Accessed 18 Mar. 2018].
Pilar Layton didia very good job reviewing the article titled “In Africa, Geneticists are hunting Poachers” originally written by Gina Kolata. The article is about authorities needed a better way to catch the poachers. They then began using fingerprints to catch the poachers. It is amazing how something like genetic fingerprinting can be used to catch someone killing Rhinoceros.
I really like how Pilar explained the entire article in full so that anyone could understand it without having to read it . Another thing she did very well was pace the article. Also, she incorporated quotes which makes it easier to understand.
Something she needs to work on is summing up the details and making it more concise. Another thing she can work on is adding more of her own opinions.
I still cannot believe they are finding fingerprints on rhinos and using them to catch poachers. Overall, I think Pilar did a very good job with this review.
Scott McGrath
3/18/18
Current Event 19
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
[Accessed 18 Mar. 2018].
Pilar Layton didia very good job reviewing the article titled “In Africa, Geneticists are hunting Poachers” originally written by Gina Kolata. The article is about authorities needed a better way to catch the poachers. They then began using fingerprints to catch the poachers. It is amazing how something like genetic fingerprinting can be used to catch someone killing Rhinoceros.
I really like how Pilar explained the entire article in full so that anyone could understand it without having to read it . Another thing she did very well was pace the article. Also, she incorporated quotes which makes it easier to understand.
Something she needs to work on is summing up the details and making it more concise. Another thing she can work on is adding more of her own opinions.
I still cannot believe they are finding fingerprints on rhinos and using them to catch poachers. Overall, I think Pilar did a very good job with this review.
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
Pilar wrote a great review of the article,”In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers”. Pilar’s review was especially strong because she used relevant quotations from experts. Pilar’s use of statistics regarding endangered species’ populations was compelling. Lastly, Pilar’s summary of her article was well written and detailed.
Pilar’s report would have been more interesting if she had been more critical. Pilar also could have helped connect the readers with the poaching issues more by explaining how these tactics are used in the field.
Before reading Pilar’s report, I was unaware of the scope of the poaching problem and the ways forensic science can be used to analyze hunting crimes.
Mairead Cain
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics
26 March 2018
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
Pilar did a very nice job with her current event review on the article “In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers,” from The New York Times. I decided to review her report as the title was rather intriguing and posed many questions. There are many good techniques she uses throughout the report. One example is how she explains the detailed background of the poaching of the zimbabwean rhinoceros. Her focus on this factor of the original report is important as it gives readers an insight on the specific details of the case. Another aspect of Pilar’s writing that was done rather well was when she explained the step by step process that the investigators go through with the carcasses of the rhinoceroses. She even explained how Dr. Cindy Harper, a researcher at the University of Pretoria, collected the blood and tissue samples from the animals. Lastly, I appreciated how Pilar discussed the fact that poaching and animal trafficking is still relevant in modern times. It deeply and negatively affects countless endangered animals and should be prevented to the best of the world’s ability.
Overall, Pilar’s report was extremely interesting and informative, however there are some details that she could tweak and add to make the current event report even that much better. I recommend that she explains how, exactly, Dr. Cindy Harper is able to track the traffickers and poachers from the animal carcases. It would have been beneficial for her to go into further detail about this so that readers would better understand how the process works. Also, she could have supplemented her current event report with more quotes from the scientists, researchers, and rangers involved in the effort. This would have given readers a better understanding of the severity of the poaching and animal trafficking.
Pilar’s report was very informative and I learned extensively about the efforts to stop rhinoceros poaching and the forensic techniques involved. Before reading the report, I had little knowledge about how the forensic techniques being used to prevent the poaching of the Zimbabwean rhinoceros. After reading Pilar’s report, I see how important it is for these efforts to be spread throughout the poaching area. These beautiful creatures must be protected and their poachers and traffickers should be brought to justice.
Liam Grealy
Mr.Ippolito
3/18/18
Forensics Comment
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html [Accessed 18 Mar. 2018].
In this article pilar was able to summarize In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. The article is about South African authorities and their attempt to stop poaching. This article was mostly about how The genetic fingerprinting methods that have been so successful in the criminal justice system are now being used to solve poaching crimes. Pilar was able to talk about the relevance of this article, and how poaching is an important issue especially with species on the brink of extinction and how action must be taken to discourage any poachers. I found her use of quotes really gave a strong backing to her arguments and made the current event better. She set up her current event very well and it was easy to read leaving me wanting to know more. I would have liked to see pilar talk about the issue that poaching causes and how species are slowly becoming extinct. I would have also liked to see what the tusks are used for and why they are considered to be so valuable that poachers decide their profit is more important than preserving a species. After reading the article and the current event and this quote really stuck with me“Pound for pound, a rhino horn is worth more than heroin or gold”. It made me realize how valuable these animals truly are and how we need to protect these animals more as there are so many people going after these animals just to get rich quick.
Olivia Lewis
Mr.Ippolito
3/25/18
Current Event #20 Comment
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html [Accessed 18 Mar. 2018].
In Pilar’s review of the article “In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers,” she detailed how authorities have began using forensic analysis in order to catch poachers. Overall, Pilar’s review of this article was very good. For example, she gave a very detailed and thorough summary of the article. She also provided several quotes from article which provides more details as to what the article was about. Finally, Pilar did a good job on explaining how forensic science is applicable to a crime such as poaching.
In order to improve her review of the article, I think that Pilar could have imputed more critiques of the article. I also think that she could have implemented more information on poaching itself and how it has been combated in the past so that the reader can see how much it has changed.
Overall, I found this review of the article very interesting. I think that this was an interesting look at how forensic science can be used in many different fields, such as poaching.
Damian Kaminski
March 25, 2018
Forensics
Current event
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
My classmate Pilar wrote a really good analysis on the article “ In Africa, Genetics are hunting Poachers” written by Gina Kolata. Pilar did a good job in adding a lot of important and informative summary that provided me with a lot of important information. She added in quotes directly from the article from the case. She went into extreme detail about the dangers of poaching, how the dangers they bring to many of the animal species.
Although she wrote a thorough review of the article, it would have been a more interesting analysis to read if she added in some critiques on the issue as well rather than just having it as all good. Also if she were to add more of her own personal opinion to the review, it would have made it more interesting and personal to read.
After reading the response and the article, i learned a lot about the harmful effects of poaching, and i also learned a new tactic for finding pupatrators through rhino DNA. It is interesting to see the different effects forensics has in everyday life, in addition how the expanding genera has been growing and drastically changing things that seemed impossible beforehand.
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
Sophia Kocur
I read an article, that my classmate Pilar did a review on, called, “In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers”. Pilar’s review was especially strong because she used relevant quotations from experts. Pilar’s use of statistics regarding endangered species’ populations was compelling. Lastly, I appreciated how Pilar discussed the fact that poaching and animal trafficking is still relevant in modern times. It deeply and negatively affects countless endangered animals and should be prevented to the best of the world’s ability.
Overall, Pilar’s report was extremely interesting and informative, however there are some details that she could tweak and add to make the current event report even that much better. I recommend that she explains how, exactly, Dr. Cindy Harper is able to track the traffickers and poachers from the animal carcases. It would have been beneficial for her to go into further detail about this so that readers would better understand how the process works. Also, she could have supplemented her current event report with more quotes from the scientists, researchers, and rangers involved in the effort. This would have given readers a better understanding of the severity of the poaching and animal trafficking.
After reading the response and the article, i learned a lot about the harmful effects of poaching, and I also learned a new tactic for finding pupatrators through rhino DNA. It is interesting to see the different effects forensics has in everyday life, in addition how the expanding genera has been growing and drastically changing things that seemed impossible beforehand.
Justin McCarthy
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics 12H
Current Event 20
Reviewing Pillar Layton
Due March 27th 2018
Kolata, Gina. “In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Jan. 2018,
www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FForensic%2BScience&action=click&contentCollection=timestopics®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=7&pgtype=collection
I thought Pilar did a nice job with her current event review on the article “In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers,” from The New York Times. Pilar did a good job at her review. There are many good tactics she uses throughout the report. The first factor is how she explains the detailed background on the poaching to the rhinoceros. Her focus on this factor is important as it gives readers an insight on the specific details for this case. A second factor which I think Pilar did a very great job was at her word choice. Her writing reflected this when she wrote this and I thought it was rather very well done and had so much depth because when she explained the protocol that the investigators go through with dead rhinoceroses she provides evidence throughout the text that is provided by the New York Times. The third factor that I really enjoyed while I was reading Pillar’s review was that I appreciated how Pilar discussed the fact that poaching and animal trafficking is still active on as such as its impact on today’s world. It deeply saddens me that humans still hunt and kill endangered animals for no good reason but to make money and for sport. This should be prevented to the best of the world’s ability.
While Pilar’s current event was extremely a great current event, there are some details that she could tweak and improve on in the future to make her current event report even that much better. The first factor which I recommend that she does is to perhaps try to attempt to connect the article regarding poaching to Forensics a little more. I believe if you did this and connected to the scientific part I believe you could have gone a more deep diver angle regarding how the traffickers and poachers from the animal carcases are able to get away without getting caught. It would have been beneficial for her to go into further detail about this so that readers would better understand how the process works. The second factor which I also thought Pillar could have integrated her current event report with a couple quotes from the scientists just to add a little more validity to her hard work. This would have given readers a better understanding of the severity of the poaching and animal trafficking in the world of Africa.
Pilar’s report was very good and I learned extensively about the efforts to stop rhinoceros poaching and the forensic techniques involved. Before reading the report, I had little knowledge about how the forensic techniques being used to prevent the poaching of the poor Rhinos in Africa. From this article, it is easy for me now to see how important it is for these efforts to be spread to stop Poaching because it is not right that we kill innocent animals for money. These majestic animals such as Rhinos and Elephants must be protected and above all else the poachers and traffickers that dare to kill these innocent creatures should be brought to justice swiftly and often. I decided to review her report because I thought the topic was very interesting as well as I like the New York Times a lot because they are a trustworthy news source.
Kolata, G. (2018). In Africa, Geneticists Are Hunting Poachers. [online] Nytimes.com.
Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/08/science/dna-rhinos-ivory-poachers.html
Pilar wrote an excellent current event report to the article “In Africa, Geneticists are Hunting Poachers” by Gina Kolata. Pilar begins with a succinct and informative summary that provides the reader with all of the necessary information. She did a great job of including quotes from experts and people involved in the case. In this way, she found a way to offer new perspectives to her piece and support her arguments. I also really liked how Pilar explained that poaching is a threat to many endangered animal species by using death estimations from notable sources and describing how lucrative poaching is.
While Pilar wrote a thorough and well-written response, there are two areas where she could improve. She wrote a glowing review of the article, but I think that it would also have been helpful if she offered some critique as well. I also think that Pilar could have included information related to how this new tactic is actually performing in the field.
After reading the article and this current event response, I have now learned of a new tactic - the genetic fingerprinting of rhino DNA- to try to catch poachers. I think it is incredibly interesting that forensics can be used to solve crimes beyond humans. I expect that more breakthroughs like this one will emerge in the future and I can’t wait to hear about them.
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