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

If you were given a 20GB hard drive that had been used to image an 8GB USB device and
found during analysis that more than the 8GB image was on the disk, what would this
indicate? How would you then proceed?

Asked by MK almost 7 years ago

Sorry, but I’m not trained in digital forensics. I have absolutely no idea.

I am currently a sophomore in highschool and I want to be a forensic pathologist/medical examiner. But I don’t know what classes I absolutely need to take in highschool or what to major in college. Could you give me advice please ?

Asked by Isabelle over 7 years ago

If you want to be a pathologist you will have to be a doctor, and will need to go to med school. So you are looking for a pre-med program. Best of luck!

How (or where) can I get someone to review an autopsy for mistakes or inconsistencies, if corruption is suspected from the investigative agency that was present, and influential during the examination?

Asked by Lina almost 7 years ago

You would need another forensic pathologist to review the work of the first forensic pathologist.

Best of luck.

What courses did you have to take in college in order to study forensic science?

Asked by hello my name is makiya mcqueen and i am a student at booker t washington magnet high school. I am currently taking a career preparness course and I am very interested in forensic science. I would love to ask you a few questions for my Career investigatio about 7 years ago

Sure, email me at lisa-black@live.com.

How long does a body have to be exposed in warm temps before it starts to deteriorate?

Asked by LookingForJustice about 7 years ago

Bodies begin to deteriorate immediately, but the process might progress more slowly or less slowly depending on temperature, humidity, exposure or any medical conditions of the victim.

I would like to know what exactly happens when using Hair and Fiber analysis to solve a crime. Are there any important things to remember when trying to solve a case involving those two things?

Asked by Adriana Brown about 7 years ago

With hairs, you can’t identify one to a specific person with only microscopic examination—the main reason it is hardly used these days, and typically only as screening to decide to do DNA analysis. Then DNA analysis is actually done on the skin cells clinging around the root, because the actual hair doesn’t have any nuclear DNA. It does have mitochondrial DNA though few labs can do that.Fiber analysis is also rarely done these days because it can’t be positively identified to an article of clothing, or is it possible (usually) to find out how many of that article had been manufactured or sold and who they were sold to, etc. An analyst can say the fiber is consistent with coming from that article but that’s all. Unless there is a ‘jigsaw match’, a section of the material found that can be fit back into the article of clothing like a puzzle piece.Hope that helps!

FEPAC is this standard for forensic degrees. You can find things here: http://fepac-edu.org/
I just want to know if I do not get into a school that is approved, what will be my chances to be a csi or in the morgue

Asked by Morgan (From the last question) almost 7 years ago

I see, but I still couldn't say. It depends entirely upon the hiring agency and what kind of pool of applicants they typically have--basically, who they have to choose from. There will be a basic set of requirements but after that, advanced degrees are better than high school diplomas, degrees from accredited schools better than non-accredited, internships at forensic agencies very helpful, etc. The best way to know is to call the places you would like to work at and ask them. If you can get a tour of their facility, even better, then you can gently ask the people who work there where they went to school and so on. Shorter answer: It won't automatically get you in or automatically keep you from getting in. Of course it certainly couldn't hurt. Best of luck!