Learn what forensic scientists and crime scene investigators do. Receive hands-on training with collecting evidence, dusting for fingerprints, searching for blood stains, analyzing DNA evidence, interpreting DNA profiles, and examining flies and maggots!
Camp CSI will not be offered in the Summer of 2025, but will return in the Summer of 2026. Email the Camp Director, Jason Linville, to be placed on the 2026 mailing list (
Camp CSI: Birmingham is designed to show high school students, grades 10-12, the reality behind the forensic science depicted in such television dramas as CSI and NCIS; develop their interest in science and the scientific method; and provide information on forensic science education and career opportunities. By engaging in substantively related activities during a one-week period, Camp CSI: Birmingham will:
- help students develop their analytical skills
- help students learn (by doing) the steps involved in the scientific method
- teach students how to collect, preserve, secure, analyze, and present evidence
- expose students to current-generation equipment and methods used in forensic-based laboratories
- expose students to the reality of forensic-based investigations of crime scenes
- allow students to have fun while learning about such topics as DNA, fingerprints, criminalistics, and related forensic-based concepts
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Dates for 2026 Camp to be posted in January 2026.
The total cost of Camp CSI is $400. Campers must be dropped off and picked up each day. The camp includes lunch and an afternoon snack. The registration form and $200 registration fee can be submitted online. The additional $200 tuition can be paid online any time before May 31.
Once the online registration is completed, your camper’s spot will be held. Registration for the camp is limited to 20 participants and will be offered on a first come, first served basis.
You will be notified via email that your registration fee has been received and your camper is registered. You will receive an email with additional information about the camp as well. This additional information will come the week after registration is completed.
For more information, please contact:
Jason Linville
jglinvil@uab.edu -
The Details
Dates: Dates for 2026 Camp to be posted in January 2026. The camp runs one week, Monday – Friday.
Time: 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
Ages: 10th - 12th grade (includes rising 10th graders and graduated seniors)
Cost: $200 per student + $200 non-refundable registration fee ($400 total). Cost of the camp includes lunch and a snack each day!
Registration Deadline: May 31, 2024. Registration is limited to 20 participants for each camp session and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
Location: Forensic Science Laboratories, University Boulevard Office Building Room 306, 1201 University Blvd., Birmingham, AL 35294.
Daily Activities
- On the first day of camp, students meet in Criminal Justice’s Teaching Lab and are divided into five four-member teams and given details of their first case. Each group is assigned a camp counselor — forensic science undergraduate and graduate students. Counselors supervise the campers, but the campers do all the work!
- Each day begins with staff (graduate students, forensic science/criminal justice faculty) presentation to the teams of background on the case for the day; each team is assigned a case (e.g., who, what, where, when, etc.). Staff will first assess students’ core knowledge of the subject matter for the day (e.g., DNA) by asking the group questions and engaging them in dialogue about the topic.
- For the remainder of the week, students analyze evidence in the crime lab. After training with known samples, each team receives evidence from additional crime scenes and all team members participate in analyzing the evidence.
- After the students process the evidence and answer staff questions about the evidence (in front of the others), staff reveal the true facts of the case by reconstructing what actually happened.
- Cases from each day are related to a series of crimes where suspects, victims, and witnesses are linked together.
- On Thursday, the students will have one big crime scene where each group will have to collect a different type of evidence and process that evidence in the afternoon. On Friday, group members will question the suspect, and there will be a mock trial where members from each group will testify about their evidence as an expert witness and play the role of prosecuting and defense attorneys. Finally, the guilty party will be revealed.