Palenik, Skip

1948–
AMERICAN
RESEARCH MICROSCOPIST

For more than thirty years, Skip Palenik has worked as a research microscopist, identifying the origins of tiny pieces of materials. His work has helped provide crucial evidence in many criminal investigations, and Palenik has testified in and worked on many high-profile cases. As a lecturer and writer, he has also contributed to the education and literature regarding microscopy and chemistry.

Palenik was eight years old when he obtained his first microscope. This childhood hobby would later turn into a career path. From 1966 to 1969, he worked as an intelligence analyst in Germany for United States Army Intelligence. Returning to college, Palenik earned a B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also studied microscopy with two of his mentors, the Swiss microscopist Max Frei-Sulzer and Chicago microscopist Walter C. McCrone . In 1974, Palenik joined McCrone's lab, McCrone Associates, as a research microscopist. He worked for the company for eighteen years, in various positions.

As an independent researcher, Palenik developed a reputation for skill and unbiased analysis. He has worked on hundreds of criminal investigations across the United States, including such high-profile cases as the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, the Tylenol tampering murders, the Narita Airport bombing, and the JonBenet Ramsey case. Palenik has also worked on identifying potentially fake artwork, the remains of a body thought to be that of the Sundance Kid, and the identity of Nazi war criminal Ivan the Terrible. In 1992, Palenik started his own laboratory, the Elgin, Illinois-based Microtrace. He is often consulted by the FBI , New Scotland Yard, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

In addition to his work as a microscopist, Palenik has taught at the Illinois Institute of Technology, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the McCrone Research Institute, as well as at individual laboratories and conferences across the United States. He has been a contributor to many books, including the Encyclopedia of Forensic Science and Forensic Examination of Fibers. He has also written articles for many trade publications, and serves on the board of directors for the McCrone Research Institute. Palenik was named the 2003 Distinguished Scientist by the Midwestern Academy of Forensic Scientists.

see also Art identification; Careers in forensic science; Locard's exchange principle; Scanning electron microscopy.