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 does this career affect your lifestyle

Asked by Angel almost 9 years ago

When i go to a party people want to talk to me. That never happened before. Otherwise, it doesn't, except for the obvious scheduling/overtime problems.

Is it correct process to declare cardiac arrest or heart attack as reason for death without internally examining the heart purely based on symptoms of other organs? If examination of heart necessary, is it done at forensic lab or at autopsy?

Asked by Raja about 8 years ago

Examination of the heart would be done at the autopsy by a pathologist, and since I'm not a pathologist I'm afraid I cannot address your first question.

can a person erase their fingerprints w/ household cleaning products

Asked by fierce95@yahoo.com about 8 years ago

From an object? Sure, if you clean the surface thoroughly.

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 about 8 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!

- 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 7 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.

Very very sorry to disturb so many times our case pathologist did not examine hyoid bone. He sent it to forensic lab. However flab did not report receiving it. In the concl pathologist declared hyoid bone intact. When he examined hyoid bone?confused

Asked by Raja over 8 years ago

Okay, so if I'm following this:The pathologist says he sent the hyoid to the forensic lab.The forensic lab says it didn't receive it. The pathologist report says the hyoid was intact.

It seems to me that the 2nd and 3rd statements contradict the first, and since as far as I know pathologists and not labs examine hyoid bones, my guess is that the first statement is an error, either a typo or a misstatement and the bone was never sent to the lab. The only way to know for sure is to ask the pathologist. Just call the ME or coroner's office and ask for an appointment to come in or to phone in order to ask that pathologist a few questions about the report. Such offices are usually very careful to make a family comfortable so I'm sure they will be willing to address your concerns. Best of luck!

What is you opinion on the product rule used in DNA match probabilities and is this a reliable statistical method to employ when new DNA profiling multiplexes analyse STR markers within the same chromosome?

Asked by andres11 about 8 years ago

Sorry, but as I'm not a DNA analyst, I wouldn't have any idea.