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.
That all depends on where you work and what your job duties are. I spent about 90% of my time sitting in front of a computer looking at fingerprints. When I was at the coroner's office I probably spent 40% of the time examining victim's clothing, 10% on gunshot residue testing, 30% on hairs and fibers, and 20% everything else.
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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.
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Yes, absolutely.
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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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Obstetrician Gynecologist
Do you find it creepy when men want to go into gynecology?
Navy Officer (Former)
Why do so many people miss the military after they get out?
Inner City English Teacher
Are you pressured by administrators to pass kids that aren't ready yet?
Sure I'll catch you when I'm back at work tomorrow.
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I'm sorry about your friend but I wouldn't have any idea what it means. You'd have to ask a doctor if stiffness of the limbs is a symptom of certain drugs.
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You can say that this blood came from this person. But you have to have a DNA sample from that person to compare it to. (A swab from inside the mouth is fine, it doesn't need to be blood.) or they need to be already in the DNA database.
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