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.
No. There are cases and victims that I feel sorrier for than others, but nothing reaching the level that I would call emotionally involved. Everything is over by the time I get there, and then I don't usually see the victims or other parties again so there isn't an opportunity to bond.
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I'm very interested now in phone number 'spoofing' that the telephone scammers use to call us, but the technology is a little beyond my ken. Actually a lot beyond my ken. I have a co-worker who could explain it but we never have time.
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I actually don't know how a DNA analyst tells human from animal DNA, but I don't think it's very difficult. We have an easy field test called Hexagon OBTI that can tell animal from human blood in a matter of minutes.
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It depends on the crime, but in general I guess you look for how the perpetrator got in, how they got out, and what they disturbed while they were there. Then I look for what we could get information from (such as surfaces that they had to touch that are smooth and glossy and might have prints, whether they left blood or bodily fluids behind that could be tested, whether they wrote something or used something that could point to their identity, etc.).
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School Teacher
How do you feel about the idea of year-round schooling?
Pharmacist
Have you ever given someone the wrong prescription?
Special Education Teacher
How come it often takes years to figure out that a kid is dyslexic?
It depends entirely on where you work. The requirements are whatever your employer says they are (same with your job title). DNA analysts are often required to have a PhD in genetics. At the coroner's I had to have a BS in one of the natural sciences. At my police department they only require a high school diploma, but give extra points for advanced schooling so we all have BSs. The best way to get an idea is to go to different agencies' websites and look at help wanted postings.
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See next question.
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Who knows? It all depends on where the samples were and how thoroughly the surface was cleaned. If blood was on a glass window and it was thoroughly cleaned, then all of it is probably gone for good. If it's a porous bare wood, then probably not...unless it was thoroughly soaked with a bleach solution. If it's a large area, even if it's cleaned there might still be some left in the nooks and crannies--like in a tile floor, the ceramic may be clean but the more porous grout between the tiles might hold a substance. So there is no way to say it's always possible or it's always not possible. PS Luminol helps you find blood. Christmas Tree stain is used to stain a dried semen sample on a glass slide. It doesn't help you find the semen in the first place.
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