Dr. Hearns is the Program Technical Leader of Trace Evidence Services at the RCMP National Forensic Laboratory Services, and is a senior forensic chemist specialized in both explosives and gunshot residue (GSR) analysis.
He has authored forensic reports in over 500 different criminal investigations and has testified at court over 45 times in nine different Canadian provinces and territories accepted as a forensic expert in criminal trials. Dr. Hearns has co-authored over 20 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, is a member of the Board of Governors of the Canadian Society of Forensic Science, a member of the NIST OSAC ILEGSR technical working group for organic gunshot residue, and a member of the ENFSI Expert Working Group on Explosives (FINEX).