#PHSfit Career of the Day: Forensic Chemist

A forensic chemist is a professional chemist who analyzes evidence that is brought in from crime scenes and reaches a conclusion based on tests run on that piece of evidence. A forensic chemist's job is to identify and characterize the evidence as part of the larger process of solving a crime. Forensic chemists rarely conduct any investigative work; they handle the evidence collected from the crime scene. Evidence may include hair samples, paint chips, glass fragments, or blood stains. Understanding the evidence requires tools from many disciplines, including chemistry, biology, materials science, and genetics. The prevalence of DNA analysis is making knowledge of genetics increasingly important in this field. A strong background in chemistry and instrumental analysis as well as a good grounding in criminalistics is vital. A forensic science degree at both the undergraduate and graduate level is recommended.
http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/careers/whatchemistsdo/careers/forensic-chemists.html