Forensic Scientists
Researched by Stephanie T. 2001-02	RESEARCH REPORT  MY INTERVIEW  BIBLIOGRAPHY  ABOUT THE AUTHOR DEDICATION  WHY I CHOSE THIS TOPIC  SELF-EVALUATION  THANK YOU

Job responsibilities

Forensic scientists help solve crimes. They are sometimes called criminalists. To solve crimes they use different substances in their tests. Forensic nurses are responsible for talking with people that work in the hospital when there is investigation to be done. The nurses then talk with family members to tell them the good or bad news.

Forensic scientists normally work at crime scenes only if it’s necessary, but large labs are better for scientific tests. Forensic scientists often work overtime so they can get their work done faster than if they were to stay on a normal schedule.

In forensic science there are many different special jobs. Some of those jobs are criminalistics, engineering sciences, and physical sciences. All these jobs are very important. The job that needs the most workers is criminalistics. These are only some of the categories in forensic science.

The tools that forensic scientists use include goggles, gloves, chemicals, face masks, information files, computers, microscopes, and lie detectors. Most of these things are for safety, and the rest are used for testing the clues. Powders and chemicals are the best things for testing because they give more information. They wear a face mask, gloves, and goggles to protect their body from any harmful things. Tools and materials used by forensic scientists are the most important things to them.

Some forensic scientists like their job because they get to work outside most of the time. They get to work with a lot of interesting machines and chemicals to help them with tests. Some other reasons why being a forensic scientist is nice is they get to fight crime, solve mysteries, and help the society. 

A bad thing about being a forensic scientist is that they have to work with very dangerous chemicals. If a forensic scientist was injured badly while in the middle of a project it would take longer to finish and they don’t have that kind of time. If they are frustrated and don’t find an answer, the world may never know who did the crime. This is why forensic scientists can’t be bothered in the middle of a project. 

To get a job in forensic science you really need to take four years in college and to get a Bachelor’s degree. To get a higher paying job in forensic science you need five or six years in college to get a Master’s degree. The minimum training requires a high school diploma and two years in college. Forensic scientists study biology, chemistry, or law enforcement in training. 

Forensic scientists don’t need any certification. To get the job though they do need to pass an examination. 

 Some personal skills needed to become a forensic scientist are paying attention to detail and a good memory. The most important thing they need is a lot of patience. If forensic scientists don’t have these skills there’s a good chance that they will not succeed. 

The fifth to seventh grade classes needed to succeed in becoming a forensic scientist are reading, math, science, writing, and computers. Reading will help because forensic scientists read reports on crimes and they need to understand the reports quite well. To know which chemicals or tests are needed forensic scientists use science. A forensic scientist has to record what happened when they mixed a certain chemical with the evidence so writing helps. Forensic scientists use computers to type up reports and many other things. To become a forensic scientist there are many classes involved.

The earnings range for a beginning forensic scientist in the United States is between $20,000 and $25,000. More educated and highly experienced workers make about $30,000 to $40,000 yearly. Those with advanced degrees have salaries that go up to $100,000 or more. 

The outlook for the future of forensic science is that the number of forensic scientists will go up in the United States. There are only a few thousand forensic scientists today but that will increase through the next decade. Forensic scientists will keep growing slowly.

There are very few forensic scientists in Washington. The most common places they work in Washington are Seattle and Spokane. These are the best places to look for forensic science jobs. 

Forensic science goes as far back as the prehistoric humans, where they have found fingerprints in early paintings and rock carvings. Throughout the years there have been many changes in forensic science. In 1784 John Toms was convicted of murder, this was when they started using physical matching of evidence. It was about one hundred more years until Francis Galton published the first book on fingerprints in 1892. Then in 1913 Victor Balthazard published the first article on individualizing bullet markings. In 1916 Albert Schneider first used a vacuum apparatus to collect trace evidence. It wasn’t until 1932 that The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) crime laboratory was opened. In 1984 Alec Jeffreys developed the first DNA profiling test. History is an important part of forensic science because many tools used back then are still used today in the crime labs. 

There are only a couple of closely related jobs to forensic science. Those jobs are Biological Scientists and Law Enforcement Officers. All these jobs are very important for our lives. 

To get a job in forensic science you need at least a four-year college degree in one of the top three categories criminology, forensic science, or natural science. The degree should also have chemistry courses and physics.

A lot of forensic scientists take on more duties and then get pay raises. Some others might get higher advanced training. Some jobs need a five-year college degree. 

There are so many great F.S. websites. These are some of them www.forensicdna.com, www.biology.about.com, www.usa-center.com, http://crimeandclues.com/, http://www.gradschools.com/search.html, http://www.imagingforensics.com/.

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