Job Highlight: Forensic Scientist

Carrie Mesrobian

Crime procedural television show have become a standard fixture in network programming. Any given night of the week, millions of viewers delight at getting up close and personal with the science behind crime-solving.

But the reality of working as a forensic scientist is much different, especially when real forensic investigations don’t tidily wrap up in sixty minutes.

Sue Gross, a forensic scientist who supervises the Chemistry Lab for the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) in St. Paul, is well aware of the misperceptions caused by these flashy dramas.

“ It takes us a lot more time than on TV,” Gross explains. “And they never talk about backlogs on TV. It’s very rare that a lab doesn’t have a backlog. The tests they show usually take longer. And it’s not as glamorous. Being out on a crime scene can be stressful. And the work can be repetitive.”

The Journey

At the time Sue Gross embarked on her education, it wasn’t a TV show that sparked her interest, but a class.

“ I took a sophomore forensic chemistry class on how trace evidence works,” she recalls. “Paint chips, shoe prints, trace evidence.”

After talking to the professor about doing forensics, she learned she needed to take a year of physics, as well as major in chemistry and take calculus.

“The physics scared me off,” she remembers. “I went into psych instead.”

Then, coincidentally, Gross’ sister landed a job in at a crime lab, in the toxicology section, and Gross got a tour of the lab, meeting the people who worked in trace evidence and chemistry.

“After that, I decided, ‘Okay, I can handle a year of physics,’” she laughs.

Gross went on to add a chemistry major in her senior year and interned at the BCA after graduation. Still, the forensic science field was (and remains) competitive, so Gross worked in an environmental lab for three years before finding a job in with the city of Minneapolis where she analyzed blood alcohol and controlled substance samples. Five years passed before she began working in her current position.

The Work

The forensic scientists seen on television seem to wear a lot of hats, often interviewing witnesses, interrogating suspects or chasing down criminals.

Though Gross allows that perhaps in other states, these roles are somewhat combined, in Minnesota, they are not.

“In Minnesota, forensic scientists don’t carry guns and we don’t interrogate suspects,” she explains. “The only time we see a defendant is when we testify in court. We rarely encounter the victim’s families.”

In Gross’ position as supervisor of the Chemistry Lab, she spends most of her day overseeing the scientists on her staff, as well as handling case work. The work is highly detailed and often repetitive.

“It can be tedious,” Gross admits. “Comparing hair samples, looking through the microscope all day.”

Gross’ lab works on trace evidence, which can include, but isn’t limited to, shoe prints, tire tracks, glass fragments, fibers, paint, wood, soil and tape. She and the other scientists on her team spend hours comparing known substances with unknown substances, checking enormous materials databases for matches and processing evidence for possible trace materials.

“Most trace evidence is mass-produced,” Gross explains.

Because mass-produced items are not unique, law enforcement relies on the accumulation of this evidence to build a strong case.

Even with databases, there are difficulties in identifying certain items.
“ The industry that makes fibers for clothing is constantly changing,” Gross explains. “And the database for paint has holes in it. We always collect paints and submit them to the FBI, but there are still holes.”

An attempt to fill some holes involved a project with glitter.

“I actually did a little research project with glitter,” Gross recalls. “First, I tried to determine how differentiated glitter was, so I bought some glitter items so I could figure out if this was a worthwhile test. It turns out that on a piece of clothing, the glitter is probably all made at the same time, but the layer structure can look different.”

As the supervisor of the chemistry group, Gross oversees cases that involve trace evidence, arson and drug chemistry. She also directs personnel, sets goals for the staff and reviews individual cases.

Casework varies depending on the nature of the crime scene or accident. An assault might involve the victim’s clothing which her staff for process for evidence.

Car accidents also involve a great deal of trace evidence.

“For example, when an air bag deploys, there are hot gases which leave burn marks on clothing,” Gross explains.

But the air bags on either side of the car leave different patterns. With evidence collected from the scene, Gross’ team can determine who was sitting where to help law enforcement recreate what might have happened.

“We can determine whether someone had their seatbelt on,” Gross says, “because upon impact, the actual plastic part of the belt will soften up and embed in clothing.”

Though many forensic scientists just work in the lab, Gross herself is also a member of the crime scene team, where she is on-call for one week, in 6-8 week rotations.

“An agency will call us and ask us to process a scene for physical evidence,” she explains.

But unlike on television, the crime scene team isn’t generally the first to arrive. Police must first secure the scene and obtain any necessary search warrants.

“Crime scenes can be uncomfortable and stressful, but the suspects aren’t at the scene,” Gross says. “There’s nobody looming under the bed.”

At a typical crime scene, Gross might be asked to gather a variety of evidence, ranging from latent prints to blood evidence.

“At the crime scene we are not analyzing anything, just collecting evidence,” Gross says. “It’s very different from being in the lab.”

Gross cites her work on the crime scene team as one she most enjoys.

“ Because every crime scene is different, it’s a challenge,” she says. “We’ve got to put the things we’ve been trained in to use, like blood spatter. I really like the variety and I like solving puzzles. It’s really neat if I go out to a crime scene and if there’s trace evidence, then you go to court and testify and show your findings, completing the puzzle.”

Education and Training

Forensic scientists need a four-year degree from a college or university, with a major in a science like chemistry, biology or physics.

Gross strongly recommends internships and seeking jobs in laboratories where there is access to many different kinds instruments so a potential job-seeker can gain experience with as many different types of equipment as possible. Internships in forensic labs can be highly competitive, but Gross believes it’s a helpful way to get a foot in the door.

Certification is strongly encouraged in this field, according to Gross.

“We’re not required to be certified, but if there’s money in the training budget, we highly encourage it,” she says. “There are different forensic meetings throughout the year. Not a lot of local training opportunities, but the FBI offers classes and different organizations offer classes.”

The American Board of Criminalistics certifies forensic scientists in different areas through a written examination in a variety of specialty areas, as well as proficiency tests

”In the hair and fiber test, for example,” Gross explains, “you’ll be sent different fibers once a year and you must identify them.”

Gross herself is certified in hair and fiber, paint and polymers. There are also certifications for biological substances, drugs, toxicology, latent prints, firearms and crime scenes.

Unlike on television, certification takes a long time and individuals generally stay in a certain field of study, so most forensic scientists are specialize in one area.

“For example, you know Abby on NCIS?” Gross says, of the CBS crime drama character. “On that show, she alone does what we have six people doing here.”

For a summary of the areas of study for forensic scientists, follow this this link from the ISEEK website: http://www.iseek.org/sv/Study?id=22029:420203

The Rewards

Most forensic scientists work for federal or state agencies, though there are some private labs that also do forensic work. Because of this, most forensic scientists’ salaries are subject to governmental budgeting fluctuations.

“Working for the government, you don’t get paid tons of money,” Gross allows.

According to the ISEEK website, the median hourly wage for forensic scientists is $24.46, and is generally higher for those individuals with more experience and certifications in their area of expertise.

As an employee of the state, Gross is a member of the Minnesota Association of Professional employees and also receives health care benefits, paid time off and a retirement plan.

Personally Gross finds that her work isn’t always as melodramatic as her television portrayers make it. For her, her job isn’t about choosing sides with either victim or perpetrator.

“We don’t get emotionally involved,” she says. “It’s science. What we find is what we find. We’re supposed to be neutral.”

One point of personal satisfaction that Gross does allow is her pride in her staff’s recent efforts.

“What my employees accomplished in getting our case backlog down from 2000 to 600 cases?” she cites. “I’m very proud of them.”

Your Decision

Being a forensic scientist is exciting, but Gross is clear about the level of intense effort involved.

“It’s very detail oriented,” she says. “You must be very organized and able to multi-task. We only work on one actual case at a time but you might be also working on a case where you are waiting for some known samples to come in.”

Hours looking through microscopes, sorting through tape lists to search for hair or fibers, and poring through materials databases are all examples of forensic scientists’ daily tasks.

Forensic scientists must also be comfortable with public speaking, because they often must testify to their findings in court.

“Testifying in court can be stressful,” Gross advises. “You never know what the defense is going to ask you.”

Though Gross believes the need for forensic scientists will also be there – “There will always be crime,” she allows – the market for job-seekers will generally be constrained by government budgets.

She suggests students double major, in biology or chemistry, in order to make themselves more attractive to environmental or research labs where they could gain experience on instrumentation.

Gross also believes that willingness to relocate is crucial, given the field’s size, and suggests that networking by becoming involved in forensic associations is an excellent way to find out about openings.

Learn more about the profession by visiting these professional association websites:

Midwestern Association of Forensic Scientists: www.mafs.net

American Academy of Forensic Scientists at: www.aafs.org

Think you’ve got what it takes to follow an evidence trail down to the minutest level? If you’ve got the science chops and the patience for detail-oriented lab work, the fascinating field of forensic science could be for you.