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 am Aminul from India. I got 49% in my HSC board exam can I became a forensic scientist.

Asked by Mohammed Aminul Islam shaikh almost 9 years ago

I'm sorry but I wouldn't have any idea what an HSC exam is or what a good score is.Best of luck to you!

Hi. Will a combination of chlorine bleach, gasoline and paint thinner destroy blood DNA?
Thank you :)

Asked by Ayden almost 9 years ago

As far as I know, the chlorine bleach alone will do it.



- What is trace evidence? Are fingerprints considered trace evidence?
- How is evidence collected and documented?
- What is some frequently used equipment in the lab/ what are they used to look for?

Asked by AP over 8 years ago

I'm afraid those questions are much to broad for me to summarize here. See if your library has copies of Richard Saferstein's Forensic Science Handbooks or his smaller volumes on forensics.

Before an autopsy is performed, must all the blood be removed from the body?

Asked by Richard Ferstandig about 8 years ago

No. Much blood will drain from all the cutting done during the autopsy, but no attempt is made to particularly remove it.

Do forensic scientist have to specialize into one field like serology, latent print, toxicology, etc. or can they be multidisciplinary in the sense that one day they work on entomology another they do blood spatter and so on?

Asked by Chicken Jr. almost 9 years ago

see question above.

Is there a way to tell the person's weight from their skeleton? I know you can tell age, race, old injuries and so much more. Would you be able to tell that the bones belonged to a 400lb man?

Asked by Desiré about 9 years ago

That's an excellent question but you need an anthropologist to answer it. I'm afraid I don't know. Sorry!

As a forensic scientist, do you use the diameter of blood splatters as clues to how the crime happened?

Asked by Rylee over 8 years ago

Yes, the arcsin of the width divided by the length of the stain will give you the angle of impact at which the blood struck the surface (usually a wall). The direction of the stains can be traced back to a point of convergence and from there the angles can be traced back to a distance from the wall, giving you the approximate point in space where the blow was struck.