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

How stressful can working as a forensics scientist be?

Asked by Denisse Parada almost 6 years ago

That all depends on where you work, what the caseload is, and what your job duties are. If you work someplace with a huge backlog and more work than you have personnel for, it could be stressful. When I was at the coroner’s office it was exhausting, we had a ton of work, not much staff, were underpaid, and my boss was a little crazy, but i loved it so much I didn’t care. At the police department now we have just enough people to manage the work, so even though it gets busy at times we stay on a pretty even keel. Good supervisory management is key (in any field). Best of luck!

I know they use interrogation techniques, polygraphs, and have experts who recognize truth and deception. But do and could someone use hypnosis?

Asked by DJ almost 5 years ago

Supposedly, but I don’t know of any cases personally.

I have not used cocaine in a year, why is my hair still testing positive for cocaine?

Asked by Terence J Donnelly over 5 years ago

Hair is just dead cells, so once something is there, it stays there. Hair grows at about 1/2 inch per month, in general (mine, to my frustration, grows much more slowly). So if your hair is longer than say 6 inches, the cocaine will still be there. If your hair is much shorter, then I don’t know what’s happening.Hope that helps.

What does forensic science mean to you?

Asked by Caroline over 5 years ago

For homework interview questions, please email me at lisa-black@live.com.

What do you like about your career

Asked by Ana about 6 years ago

For school projects, please email me all the questions at once at: lisa-black@live.com

is it possible to be stabbed in your subclavian vein leading to death [while standing up] and not get blood on your shoes

Asked by Kerry Ferris almost 6 years ago

Wow, sorry, I have no idea where the subclavian vein even is. I’m afraid you need a pathologist.

Sorry I couldn’t be more help!



How long will latent prints last when ninhydrin is used?

Asked by Krissy over 5 years ago

I'm not sure what you mean: a) how long after a print is left will ninhydrin still detect it, in which case I can say from my own experiment that there's little rhyme or reason to this, sometimes older prints develop better than newer ones or vice versa, or b) how long does a print developed with ninhydrin last, and the answer to that is that ninhydrin is a dark purple dye, so it is permanent, though it will continue to develop so that the entire page may eventually turn purple so we use a fixative chemical on the now-visible print so that will stop the ninhydrin from darkening the paper further. I hope that helps!