HSI Special Agent Andersen Brings Science to Life with Real-World Investigations

On April 14, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Supervisory Special Agent, Brian Andersen – husband of science teacher Diane Popeo - spoke to select science classes about how the criminal investigative process mirrors the scientific method.  As a 20-year veteran of HSI, Special Agent Andersen took students through one of his investigations, from the initial allegation (hypothesis)  to the conviction of a genocidaire in the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi.

SSA Andersen highlighted key forms of evidence, including witness testimony, the search for physical artifacts, and the use of satellite imagery in corroborating survivor stories.  Throughout his work investigating Human Rights Violations, SSA Andersen had the privilege of meeting Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, Nobel-prize winning writer, teacher, and human rights activist.  Wiesel explained the vital responsibility of what it means to bear witness—echoing this year’s academic theme—saying, “When you interview a witness, you become a witness.”