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Choon Sung Kambara - Forensic Scientist - DNA
Jennifer Venditto - Forensic Scientist - DNA
Slides: LINK - great slides with lots of examples of what tasks happen in a crime lab.
We were lucky to have 2 DNA forensic scientists join us in our last STEM4HER session. They shared their path from high school to their jobs at the Washington State Crime Lab.
Choon has been working at the Crime Lab for about a year. She went to George Washington High School, Charleston, West Virginia. She took several honors classes and APs. She took AP Chemistry - she said it was strange that she loved it because it was the hardest and most challenging of her subjects, and the teacher was scary! However she decided she would focus on Chemistry at college. She went to Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia in 2012. During her early first years at college she took lots of science subjects.
She was able to participate in some Chemistry research in the Chemistry department. She learned that doing research was not for her as there were always more research questions and it was hard to get to definitive answers to questions. So she started to look into Forensic Science. To become a forensic scientist she would need to go to Graduate School to get a degree in Forensic Science. She went to Marshall University in West Virginia. She had looked at several programs and chose this program as it allowed her to try learn about the different fields within Forensic Science before choosing a specialty whereas other programs wanted you to choose specialization first. So while the university and location wasn't her first choice (she hadn't wanted to return to West Virginia), she really liked the program. The program lasted 2 years, and then she looked for a job. She found a position at the Washington State Crime Lab. All forensic scientists complete training when they join a crime lab - depending on the state and the lab the training may last between 6-15 months.
Jennifer has been working in the Crime Lab for more than 10 years. She is from Washington state and attended a local high school. Her favorite subjects in high school were art, music, and literature, but she also thought science was fun. In her sophomore year she participated in an activity that was like a crime scene investigation. She had to test blood samples and evaluate how the DNA could help identify the criminal! This experience helped her focus on becoming a forensic scientist. She had no idea what it would take to become a forensic scientist, and there were no undergrad programs at the time (except in Hawaii!) and she also loved the University of Washington. So she decided to attend UW and got her degree in Microbiology, as this is a good background degree for becoming a forensic scientist.
While she was at college she contacted the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, to see if there were any volunteer opportunities. They were able to find some opportunities for her to volunteer.
At the end of her degree she decided to do an online Masters degree in Forensic Science, through the University of Florida. She was able to do most of the studying online and only had to go to Gainsville for her exams. She has worked at the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab since she got her degree.
In Washington State there are 6 crime labs across the state. Each lab does some similar tasks and also each specializes in certain tasks like - Drugs, DNA, Firearms, Trace Evidence, and toxicology. Choon and Jennifer provided a great slide deck that describes many different aspects of the work of forensic scientists. DNA can be tested in several ways such as blood, semen, saliva, urine, hair, teeth, bone, and tissue. Chemistry analysis is used in several situations like drugs, clandestine labs, fire debris, poisons and toxins. The term Trace Evidence is used to describe other types of evidence that help explain what happened at a crime scene. It can be things like - shoe prints, paint, soils, vehicle ID from parts, and particles of wood.They provided several examples of how the firearms and tools science contributes to crime investigations - the slides describe some of the examples in detail and provide information about the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN program).
In addition to the research and scientific analysis forensic scientists also spend time taking detailed notes and writing reports. You need to be good at communicating with prosecution and defense, and sometimes testify! You also need to stay current in the field - being intellectual curious will help with this. And... sometimes you have to be thick skinned, as people will not always want to hear your results.
There are huge rewards with this work - both when you help specifically identify the criminal but also there are huge rewards in helping release someone who is innocent.
So what do you need to do to become a Forensic Scientist?
- Minimum of Bachelor's degree in science
- 20 hours or 30 quarter hours of chemistry
- 5 semester or 8 quarter hours of physics
- DNA specific requirements
---Biochemistry
---Genetics
---Molecular biology
---Statistics
Choon Sung Kambara - Forensic Scientist - DNA
Jennifer Venditto - Forensic Scientist - DNA
Slides: LINK - great slides with lots of examples of what tasks happen in a crime lab.
We were lucky to have 2 DNA forensic scientists join us in our last STEM4HER session. They shared their path from high school to their jobs at the Washington State Crime Lab.
Choon has been working at the Crime Lab for about a year. She went to George Washington High School, Charleston, West Virginia. She took several honors classes and APs. She took AP Chemistry - she said it was strange that she loved it because it was the hardest and most challenging of her subjects, and the teacher was scary! However she decided she would focus on Chemistry at college. She went to Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia in 2012. During her early first years at college she took lots of science subjects.
She was able to participate in some Chemistry research in the Chemistry department. She learned that doing research was not for her as there were always more research questions and it was hard to get to definitive answers to questions. So she started to look into Forensic Science. To become a forensic scientist she would need to go to Graduate School to get a degree in Forensic Science. She went to Marshall University in West Virginia. She had looked at several programs and chose this program as it allowed her to try learn about the different fields within Forensic Science before choosing a specialty whereas other programs wanted you to choose specialization first. So while the university and location wasn't her first choice (she hadn't wanted to return to West Virginia), she really liked the program. The program lasted 2 years, and then she looked for a job. She found a position at the Washington State Crime Lab. All forensic scientists complete training when they join a crime lab - depending on the state and the lab the training may last between 6-15 months.
Jennifer has been working in the Crime Lab for more than 10 years. She is from Washington state and attended a local high school. Her favorite subjects in high school were art, music, and literature, but she also thought science was fun. In her sophomore year she participated in an activity that was like a crime scene investigation. She had to test blood samples and evaluate how the DNA could help identify the criminal! This experience helped her focus on becoming a forensic scientist. She had no idea what it would take to become a forensic scientist, and there were no undergrad programs at the time (except in Hawaii!) and she also loved the University of Washington. So she decided to attend UW and got her degree in Microbiology, as this is a good background degree for becoming a forensic scientist.
While she was at college she contacted the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab, to see if there were any volunteer opportunities. They were able to find some opportunities for her to volunteer.
At the end of her degree she decided to do an online Masters degree in Forensic Science, through the University of Florida. She was able to do most of the studying online and only had to go to Gainsville for her exams. She has worked at the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab since she got her degree.
In Washington State there are 6 crime labs across the state. Each lab does some similar tasks and also each specializes in certain tasks like - Drugs, DNA, Firearms, Trace Evidence, and toxicology. Choon and Jennifer provided a great slide deck that describes many different aspects of the work of forensic scientists. DNA can be tested in several ways such as blood, semen, saliva, urine, hair, teeth, bone, and tissue. Chemistry analysis is used in several situations like drugs, clandestine labs, fire debris, poisons and toxins. The term Trace Evidence is used to describe other types of evidence that help explain what happened at a crime scene. It can be things like - shoe prints, paint, soils, vehicle ID from parts, and particles of wood.They provided several examples of how the firearms and tools science contributes to crime investigations - the slides describe some of the examples in detail and provide information about the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN program).
In addition to the research and scientific analysis forensic scientists also spend time taking detailed notes and writing reports. You need to be good at communicating with prosecution and defense, and sometimes testify! You also need to stay current in the field - being intellectual curious will help with this. And... sometimes you have to be thick skinned, as people will not always want to hear your results.
There are huge rewards with this work - both when you help specifically identify the criminal but also there are huge rewards in helping release someone who is innocent.
So what do you need to do to become a Forensic Scientist?
- Minimum of Bachelor's degree in science
- 20 hours or 30 quarter hours of chemistry
- 5 semester or 8 quarter hours of physics
- DNA specific requirements
---Biochemistry
---Genetics
---Molecular biology
---Statistics