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.
I'm sorry but that can, and has, fill several textbooks. There's just no way for me to summarize it in a paragraph.
School project?Email me at Lisa-black@live.com and I'll send you answers I've accumulated.
You can't go wrong with a lot of science classes. When I was in college they didn't have courses specifically in forensic science, so that wasn't an option. And different agencies will have different requirements, so you might want to go online and check out the different vacancies to get some idea of what requirements are out there. You can also call labs you're interested in and ask, that way you get to 'meet' some people too.
I'm sorry to hear about your father. The hyoid would normally be observed during the course of an autopsy, but I have had pathologists tell me that people can be strangled without breaking the hyoid, and the hyoid can be broken due to other reasons,so it doesn't conclusively prove anything one way or the other.
Meter Maid
Is it tough to have a job that consists exclusively of ruining peoples' days?
Bartender
What's the best way to get a bartender's attention?
Antiques Dealer
How easy is it to forge a rare piece, and are fakes a big problem in the antiquing world?
A good knowledge of chemistry is helpful to be able to understand why certain processes work the way they do. We use math to mix reagents and calculate angles in bloodstain pattern interpretation. Any knowledge can be helpful because we deal with every kind of person, job, situation, and object there is.
Sure, I'll email you. You might also want to look over earlier questions on this site.
I like all the interesting, different, bizarre stories that make up the crimes that have happened that we have to investigate. I dislike being 'on call' and knowing you can be interrupted at any moment of the day and have to go to a crime scene, even if it's the middle of the night or a holiday. I've also had to change vacations because I have to testify in a trial. I hate that.
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