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

HI! Did you ever regret pursuing your job? Also, can you be both, a forensic scientist and a CSI?

Asked by Fenis over 6 years ago

No, I've never regretted it. And your job title is whatever your agency says it is, so 'forensic scientist' and 'csi' can mean different things in different agencies, so you can certainly be both. the first implies you work mostly in the lab and the second implies you work mostly in the field, but depending on the size of the agency and any specialization you have, you might do both equally or they might be completely separate.

Do you help with Forensic Homework?

Asked by Al over 7 years ago

I think that's what I'm doing most of the time when I answer questions on this site. If you look over the previous Q&As you'll probably see a lot of homework questions.

How long will latent prints last when ninhydrin is used?

Asked by Krissy almost 7 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!

Why do some think that these forms are chat rooms?

Asked by Donaldsonerson over 6 years ago

I don’t know what you mean by that.

Do you think Roger Stone is guilty or innocent or unsure?

Asked by JW over 6 years ago

Who’s Roger Stone?

Does a person have to have a strong stomach to do a job like yours?

Asked by Jerry over 6 years ago

It helps. But I know good homicide detectives who do it for years and still have a weak stomach and they do fine.

Where you ever shocked by a crime scene?

Asked by Denise_ot5 over 7 years ago

They’re all shocking, in their way, But there hasn’t been one in particular that bowled me over.