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Assoc Professor Gale Spring

Summary of responsibilities

Gale E. Spring is the Associate Dean, Teaching and Learning in the School of Applied Sciences. He is also the Associate Professor of Scientific Photography and Program Leader of the multi-major B.Sc. Applied Science degree. He is based in the discipline of physics.

He has an extensive background in aspects of biomedical and forensic photography and is the coordinator for post-graduate studies in scientific photography in the School of Applied Sciences.

Originally from the United States, Associate Professor Spring has lived in Melbourne for the past 23 years and holds dual American and Australian citizenship.

From 1976 to 1987, Associate Professor Spring was the Director of Photographic Services in the Department of Pathology at The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSCD) in Dallas, Texas. The department was affiliated and worked closely with the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Science, the Medical Examiner’s Office for Dallas County. It was while working there, Associate Professor Spring was able to gain first hand experience and knowledge in applications of imaging in medicolegal, forensic and law enforcement. He worked extensively with the medical examiners, ballistics team and questioned documents areas as well as trace evidence. He combined this work with teaching photography in the UTHSCD Graduate School of Biomedical Communications.

From 1988 to 2007, Associate Professor Spring was the Program Leader of the Scientific Photography degree program at RMIT University.

He was responsible for restructuring the RMIT Scientific Photography program, and achieved this by working closely with the medical, forensic and scientific industries in Australia. He was also involved in the creation of the first official ‘forensic photography’ position within the newly created Victorian Institute of Forensic Pathology (now the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine).

Over the past 23 years, Associate Professor Spring has been involved in many high profile court cases in Australia, including the Jaidyn Leskie and the Peter Falconio murder cases. He continues to consult and act as an expert witness on matters of photographic interpretation for both the prosecution and defence. He has also given evidence to the South Australia Medical Board on issues concerning the photographic documentation of forensic evidence.

Teaching responsibilities

Currently, Associate Professor Spring is actively teaching in the areas of communications and research, scientific visualization, photography for technologists and scientists and biomedical and forensic photography. He also coordinates and leads an annual field trip to Lizard Island, the Great Barrier Reef, where reef and rainforest ecology is studied.

Associate Professor Spring also coordinates post-graduate studies in scientific photography through the School of Applied Sciences and is also currently running an Honours degree initiative in Historic and Alternative processes in photography. This is a unique qualification to this specialised area of study.

Presentations

Associate Professor Spring gives numerous national and international presentations to law enforcement, legal fraternities, forensic and general science groups as well as public lectures on the use and impact of images and new technology in forensic matters. He continues to be very active in consulting with numerous local, national and international agencies. He has also organized and conducted many workshops in medical, scientific and forensic photography.

Memberships

He is a Fellow of the Biological Communications Association (FBCA), the Institute of Photographic Technology, Inc. (FIPT), a Fellow (FAIMBI), Associate (AAIMBI) and Registered Biomedical Illustrator (RBI) in the Australian Institute of Medical and Biological Illustration (AIMBI). He is a member of the Standards Australia, Ltd, Committee on Biometrics (IT-032). He is also the current President of the Photo Imaging Education Association (PIEA), Australia and the Institute of Photographic Technology, Inc. (IPT).

In 2011, Associate Professor Spring was awarded the Louis Schmidt Award by the BioCommunications Association (USA) "for outstanding contributions to the progress of biocommunications."

He has contributed to the Australasian Guidelines for Digital Imaging Processes published by the Senior Managers of Australia and New Zealand Forensic Laboratories (SMANZFL). He is a current member of the Australian Standards, Ltd., IT-032 Committee on Biometrics and on the International Editorial Review Board of the Journal of Digital Crime and Forensics (IJDCF). Other articles have been published in various journals including the Alternative Law Journal and Australasian Science and the Journal of BioCommunication.

Research Areas

• Forensic and Law Enforcement Photography
• Digital Imaging
• Infrared and ultraviolet imaging
• Photographic representation of low-light (scotopic) vision.