LIsa Black
Cape Coral, FL
Female, 49
I spent the five happiest years of my life in a morgue. As a forensic scientist in the Cleveland coroner’s office I analyzed gunshot residue on hands and clothing, hairs, fibers, paint, glass, DNA, blood and many other forms of trace evidence, as well as crime scenes. Now I'm a certified latent print examiner and CSI for a police department in Florida. I also write a series of forensic suspense novels, turning the day job into fiction. My books have been translated into six languages.
Yes, we do it every day.
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See above. I have a bachelor's degree in biology, plus over a thousand hours of continuing education in forensic topics (accumulated over 20 years).
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I would never want to discourage someone from this field because I love it. But it's a very popular field right now so I would also advise anyone to have a career plan B.
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Most agencies do not have huge staffs like on TV, and people tend to stay in the field. Thanks to the TV shows there is a universe more competition than I faced. On the other hand thanks to the current emphasis on forensics, agencies are always expanding--the federal government will be setting mandates and providing grant money to expand labs and services Check out every level (city, county, state, federal) in your area that you can find and also private labs. Check the websites for the International Association for Identification and the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.
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Yes, absolutely.
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Please email me at Lisa-black@live.com.
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That entirely depends on where you want to work. Each lab has its own requirements. My first job wanted a bachelor’s degree in any natural science. My current job just requires a HS diploma, but it helps to have advanced degrees so we all have at least a B.S. There is no uniform job definition or title for forensic work--your title is whatever your boss says it is, and crime labs can be a small place that only tests drugs and fingerprints or a large, full service place that does everything from questioned documents to DNA.
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