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.
Oh yes, I'm extremely smart. Just kidding! No, you don't have to be some kind of friggin' genius like you see on TV. You just have to be reasonably intelligent, reasonably sensible, reasonably observant, and have a good amount of attention to detail, respect for rules, and patience. It also helps to be pleasant and able to get along with people. Even though most of our victims are dead, the families, witnesses, cops and detectives are very much alive and under a lot of stress.
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Whatever points conclusively to the identity of the perpetrator. That could be a fingerprint or DNA or some personal item they used or their picture on a surveillance video.
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If you're working with the bodies then you'd probably be a medicolegal death investigator. You might want to check out their organization: http://www.abmdi.org/And this page: http://www.abmdi.org/faqBest of luck!
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I've worked in forensics since 1994. The best part of the job is making a fingerprint 'hit' that tells us who the bad guy is, or working a crime scene and finding or concluding something that helps explain what happened there. The worst part is being stressed by detectives or attorneys who want all the answers right now and don't understand what they're asking for, or testifying in court and having no idea what's going to be thrown at you.
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Emergency Room Manager
What is the most bizarre thing you've seen in your ER?
Swim Instructor
What are the physical traits that make for the "ideal swimmer's body"?
Waitress
Do you get annoyed when people use Groupons?
No, I'm happy where I am.
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I talked about what the coroner's office was like above. There's great job security if, as in any other field, you do a good job, you're fair and reasonable, you are empathetic to victims and suspects and other co-workers, and you're reliable and steady. People have to be able to depend on you.
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1) The camera.2) Fingerprint science. 3) DNA analysis.
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