"Are You're Interested in Forensic Science as a Career?"

Advice from Dr. Dana Austin, Senior Criminalist for the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office:

I recommend that you look at the website for the American Academy of Forensic Sciences for the different fields in forensic science. I believe they are at http://www.aafs.org.  There are also job postings on this site and you can get an idea of who is hiring, for how much, and what education is required.

Forensic science is an exciting field and it is getting a lot of media attention these days.  As someone who practices, I can tell you that is a very interesting profession.  However, the good jobs are hard to come by.  If you are starting a college education, I recommend a strong background at the undergraduate level in Chemistry or Biology.  This will prepare you for general laboratory work.  A chemistry degree is necessary for trace analysis, drug analysis, toxicology, and firearms examination.  A biology degree will prepare you for a path in DNA analysis, forensic medicine, forensic anthropology, forensic entomology.  Depending on which area you choose after that, you will need varying post-graduate degrees.  DNA requires a master's level degree, forensic pathology (medicine) requires a medical degree, forensic anthropology or entomology require Ph.D.'s in those fields. Trace, drugs, firearms and toxicology will all hire at the undergraduate level, but you are more competitive with a M.S. or Ph.D.

Starting salaries in criminalistics labs are upper 30's depending on experience.  Seasoned professional salaries run between 50 and 80K.

Note from Suzanne Baldon:  You can get a job in a field of forensic science or identification (for example, working with fingerprints, photography, or computer software) and use the forensic art as an enhancement for your career.  Here is the website for the International Association for Identification, where you can learn about careers using identification techniques:  http://www.THEIAI.org/