West Virginia University has two experts with FBI connections who can talk about the now-grounded British bomb plot that targeted as many as 10 airliners bound for major destinations in the United States.

They are:

  • Max Houck, director of the Forensic Science Initiative. Houck is a former FBI forensic investigator who helped identify victims of the Branch Davidian standoff and Sept. 11 Pentagon attack. He can talk about the investigation as it pertains to the suspected liquid explosives that would have been used to blow up the planes in-flight. Houck is currently at a forensic conference in Seattle, but can be reached by cell phone at 304-685-1792.
  • James Nolan, assistant professor, Division of Sociology and Anthropology. Before he became a professor, Nolan was a police officer who advanced to the FBI , where he worked as a unit chief overseeing hate crime data in the Bureaus Crime Analysis, Research and Development Unit. He can give a clinical overview of terrorism while commenting on the politics and particulars of such large-scale investigations. He can be reached at jim.nolan@mail.wvu.edu or 304-293-5801, ext. 3210.