Forensic Scientist

Forensic Scientist

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.

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Last Answer on July 21, 2022

Best Rated

I had crash some OLA 2.5 pills with olanzapine 10 mg tablets together and had kept it. Just few weeks back some police officers came to my house n found it. They tested it with forensic and it came back as heroin.
Please can you explain why

Asked by Malvin over 5 years ago

I’m sorry but I can’t. That’s a question for a toxicologist. I don’t know anything about drug chemistry.

Why when someone is dying do first responders try to make them talk and keep talking

Asked by Justin over 5 years ago

I have no idea as I’ve never worked as a first responder. I would suspect that’s largely a plot device for film or books, but I don’t actually know.

Was this election stolen from Trump?

Asked by asdfasdf almost 5 years ago

What does that have to do with forensics?

how do finger[rints get on things, does our fingers leave fluids when we touch things, or we just leave a print on existing dust?

Asked by rekhab over 4 years ago

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you!

Yes, fingerprints are impressions made by the oil and sweat on our fingers. If a surface is very dusty, we take away dust on our fingers instead of leaving prints on the object. It will look like fingerprints should be there because there will be finger marks in the dust, but actually we just removed dust.

Hope that helps!

Hi what job can i do in forensics that does not require pure math

Asked by Lamecia about 5 years ago

I don’t know what you mean by pure math. Most crime scene work, fingerprints, tool marks, serology, might need regular adding and subtracting, but I don’t know of any field that uses calculus or algebra. DNA analysis uses a lot of statistics and ballistics and traffic accident investigation might use physics and geometry. But those are the only examples I can think of.

Best of luck!

What is the cost to a criminal defendant to have a print run through the FBI's AFIS system? Has that cost remained the same from 1999 through the present?

Asked by MsM over 4 years ago

I'm sorry but I have absolutely no idea. I didn't know there was a cost. I would have guessed that their attorney could request a court order to do so from the judge and the police agency that has the print would take care of it, but I really don't know. Sorry I can't be more help.

What work do you do on a daily basis?

Asked by Janessa Dillon about 4 years ago

At my department I mostly work with fingerprints, analyzing and comparing fingerprints that I collect off pieces of evidence or pick up at crime scenes or ones that the officers submit after they collect them at crime scenes. I will also go to crime scenes, photograph, collect prints, items of evidence, maybe test for blood or collect samples of blood with sterile swabs. There’s also a lot of time spent writing up all this information in our reports and other paperwork. If I worked in DNA or ballistics or toxicology, I would probably spend all day in the lab doing those types of analysis. So it depends on where you work, what services they provide, and what your exact position is. I hope that helps!