A Career In Forensic Chemistry

1
A Career In Forensic Chemistry Bethany Pompy
Department of Chemistry and Chemical
Engineering , South Dakota School of Mines and
Technology Rapid City, SD 57701
SALARY
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
-starting out salary is in the low 30,000 per
year -a person earning a salary in the medium
range would receive around 40,000 per
year -someone ranking high on the pay scale
would be making around 60,000 per year
A Forensic Scientist has the opportunity to work
in a variety of areas.
The Police Department
EDUCATION
The Federal Bureau of Investigation

• The minnimum requiremnets to ender a masters
  program
• in forensic chemistry are as followe
• -A B.S. or B.A. degree in chemistry,
  biochemistry,
• or biology, with all of the following
• one year of general chemistry and lab
• one year of organic chemistry and lab
• one year of general physics and lab
• one year of general biology and lab
• -The recommended electives are as followe
• one year of calculus
• quantitative chemical analysis
• instrumental chemical analysis
• genetics
• biochemistry
• statistics
• courses that involve law, investigation, and
  criminal justice

Medical Examiners Office
Forensics Lab
DIVISIONS OF FORENSIC SCIENCE
Crime Scene- a forensic scientist may go to a
crime scene and collect evidence found. Once the
evidence is collected, it is tagged and put in a
bag for protection. Once this is all done, the
evidence is analyzed.
Documents- a forensic scientist may analyze a
document and try to relate it to someone
(possibly the suspect of the crime) by analyzing
the handwriting, determining if forgery is
involved, or if the document is counterfeit.
Toolmark- this division of forensic science
involves the analysis of weapons used in a crime.

Firearm- firearm deals with determining the
relationship between a firearm and a crime. This
can be done by determining the projectile of a
bullet from the firearm and also to the target.
Finally, it may involve determining what
type of firearm was used.
Forensic Photography- this division of forensic
chemistry uses photographs to solve a crime.
Psychiatry- this division of forensic chemistry
deals with mental illness and profiling. The
forensic scientist must be aware of mental
illness and if the profile of the criminal
matches the suspect.
Personal Identification- this division of
forensic science deals with the analysis of a
crime scene by the use of teeth (odontology),
DNA, fingerprints, and blood analysis.
Chem 292, Chemistry Outreach Fall 2000 Dr. David
A. Boyles and Dr. M. Steven McDowell
Sources http//www.acs.org http//www.cj.msu.e
du http//users.aol.com/murrk/index.htm