About us

Firearm and Toolmark Examiner Training Academy

Providing cost-effective, quality training for new and experienced firearm and toolmark examiners worldwide.
our mission

Committed to excellence in the training of firearm and toolmark examiners.

The Firearm and Toolmark Examiner Training Academy was established by Nichols Forensic Science Consulting in 2017. The desire was to provide cost-effective remote training for firearm and toolmark examiners and trainees world-wide.

01

Courses for the experienced examiner

Comprehensive advanced training courses dealing with a variety of topics are available on-demand.

02

Complete training academy for the new examiner

Customizable academy training for examiner trainees that includes the history of the discipline through mock cases and mock courts.

03

Personalized mentoring within a relational caring environment

The training academy provides examiner trainees with personal one-on-one mentoring and guidance throughout the training.

04

Self-paced, on-demand, and remote

Leveraging a teaching platform, quality training is available where you are, when you are ready, and you can proceed at your own pace.

Worldwide Training

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Firearm and Toolmark Examiner Academy and Advanced Training Nationwide

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Impacting and Influencing Nations Near and Far

Our team

Meet our team

Our team members are committed to providing high quality training in the forensic firearm and toolmark identification discipline. As importantly, we are committed to provide that training through personalized mentoring in a relationally caring environment that can often extend beyond the discipline itself.
WHAT THEY THINk

Our students love us

“Nichols Forensic Science Consulting Firearm and Toolmark Training Academy is a truly effective web-based training for firearm and toolmark examiners with respect to performing comparisons...This training academy is extremely well-designed and well-presented. It allowed me to continually build upon my knowledge and learn the discipline as effectively as possible. This training also further developed my critical thinking skills, useful both for the job and everything outside of it.”

Sara, United States

"I have been using Ron’s webinars as part of my personal professional development as a forensic firearms and toolmark examiner in Australia.  I have found that his presentations have challenged and probed my current understandings of forensic firearms and toolmark theory and practices.  His presentations are well prepared (including the notes which accompany each webinar), insightful, analytical, and they provide a very cost-effective way of being able to benefit from his extensive experience."

Ian, Australia

"This course [Tool manufacturing and Subclass Characteristics] is one of the best I have ever attended. The course fits almost all examiners independent of experience. This is because it is thorough, there are helpful illustrations, references are easily accessible, and it is educational. I will also point out that for me, and many others that don’t have English as their mother language, you are easy to understand because you speak very clearly and slow."

Gøran, Norway

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You can use the hashtag #NicholsFSC to talk about us on social media.