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

Can I ask you some questions for my novel? I need some things fact-checked. Probably too long to write on here.

Asked by Paula about 5 years ago

Sure! Email me at Lisa-black@live.com.

Have you ever interviewed a suspect? What is the RIED, PEACE, cognitive, kinesthetic, among other interview and interrogation why is there so many styles???

Asked by Silly Lilly almost 5 years ago

I don’t interview suspects—or victims or witnesses.That’s the detective’s job. I’m there to analyze and collect evidence.

I'm working on a blog, and one of the topics is DNA. I need to explain how it is extracted in a way an educated teen would understand. Could you please tell me how exactly it is done (including the processes in each stage)?
Thank you for your time!

Asked by Ananya over 5 years ago

I’m sorry, but I can’t. I haven’t done DNA analysis in over 20 years. Sorry I couldn’t help!

Would you be fired if you accidently messed something up and ruined a case? Even if it was a total mess up and no negligence was involved. What if there was?

Asked by Melvin over 5 years ago

That would depend entirely on what the mess up was and what it affected, and whether it was an honest mistake or the result of negligence or bias. For a serious mistake, yes, I'd probably be fired.

Hi, I'm writing a research paper and wanted to ask a question. Is there different types of crime scene investigators?

Asked by Hi over 5 years ago

I don't know what you mean by that. Different staff might have different specialties, like bloodstain pattern interpretation or digital forensics, but there's pretty standard things that have to be done at every crime scene, like photography and collection of evidence, processing for fingerprints, etc.

I hope that helps.

What IQ do you need to do this job minimum?

Asked by David over 5 years ago

As absolutely no agency I've ever heard of requires an IQ test for hire, I would have no idea.

Do you ever go through computers and what’s the weirdest thing you have found? Do you run through everything? And do you ever find things that most people think would be gone

Asked by Dillon about 5 years ago

I do not, as I'm not trained in digital forensics. But my coworker who is says that many many times, what people think is deleted is not really deleted.