Area

Employer


Many students specialize in forensic science at the graduate level. Some areas of specialization follow.

Area:

Criminalistics

Sub-Area:
  • Crime Scene Reconstruction and Mapping
  • Fingerprint Examination
  • Firearm and Toolmark Identification
  • Fire and Explosives Investigation
  • Trace Evidence Collection
  • DNA Collection and Testing
  • Drug Analysis
  • Photography
  • Blood Spatter
  • Wildlife Forensics
Employers:
  • Forensic laboratories:
    • Medical examiner
    • Coroner
    • Police department
    • Sheriff
    • Crime
    • District attorney
  • Colleges and universities
  • Federal agencies:
    • Drug Enforcement Agency
    • Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
    • U.S. Department of Justice
    • Federal Bureau of Investigation
    • Central Intelligence Agency
    • U.S. Secret Service
    • Federal Emergency Management Agency
    • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Consulting firms

Area:

Toxicology

Sub-Area:
  • Ante-mortem Investigation (DUI)
  • Post-mortem Investigation
  • Drug Testing (sweat, hair, saliva, blood, urine, etc.):
    • Workplace
    • Crime-related Investigation (homicide, sexual assault)
  • Human Performance Monitoring
  • Animal Performance Monitoring
  • Environmental Contamination Testing
Employers:
  • Laboratories:
    • Law enforcement/crime
    • Hospital
    • Medical examiner
    • Coroner
    • Horse racing
    • Sports testing
    • Private
    • University
    • Government
  • Consulting firms

Area:

Questioned Documents

Sub-Area:
  • Document (handwritten, typed, printed, copied, etc.)
    • Examination/Analysis
    • Comparison
    • Authentication
    • Dating
    • Alteration Detection
    • Restoration
Employers:
  • Police departments
  • Sheriff offices
  • Crime labs
  • Law offices
  • Insurance companies
  • Hospitals
  • Government agencies:
    • State and federal bureaus of investigation
    • U.S. Postal Inspection Service Headquarters
    • U.S. Secret Service
    • U.S. Armed Forces
  • Private practice

Area:

Odontology

Sub-Area:
  • Post-mortem Identification (mass fatalities, homicide)
  • Age Estimation
  • Bite Mark Analysis (assault, abuse)
  • DNA Collection and Testing (salivary)
  • Dental Malpractice
Employers:
  • Medical examiners
  • Coroners
  • Government agencies
  • U.S. Armed Forces
  • Law firms
  • Clinics
  • Private practice

Area:

Pathology/Medical Examiner

Sub-Area:
  • Post-mortem Investigation
    • Post-mortem Identification
    • Post-mortem Examination/Autopsy
    • Cause/Time of Death Determination
    • Physical Evidence Collection/Analysis
    • Disease Study
  • Clinical Forensic Pathology (investigations of the living)
    • Injury Interpretation (abuse)
Employers:
  • City, county, state and federal governments
  • U.S. Armed Forces
  • College and university medical schools
  • Hospitals
  • Private organizations

Area:

Physical/Forensic Anthropology

Sub-Area:
  • Human Skeletal Recovery
  • Human Skeletal Identification
    • Age Estimation
    • Ancestry, Sex, Stature Determination
    • Cause/Time of Death Determination
  • Animal Skeletal Identification
  • Soil/Vegetation Analysis
  • Crime Scene Investigation
  • Facial Reproduction
  • Body Decomposition
  • Injury Interpretation
  • Teaching
Employers:
  • Medical examiners
  • Law enforcement agencies
  • Private labs
  • Local, state and federal government
  • U.S. Armed Forces
    • Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
    • Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC)
  • Museums
  • Non-government organizations i.e. ad hoc tribunals
  • Colleges and universities

Area:

Forensic Psychiatry/Psychology

Sub-Area:
  • Criminal Responsibility Determination
  • Competency Determination
  • Risk Assessment
    • Sex Offender
    • Violence
    • Suicide
  • Evaluation
    • Involuntary Hospitalization
    • Right to Refuse Treatment
  • Disability Compensation
  • Family/Domestic Consultation
    • Custody
    • Juvenile Delinquency
    • Parental Fitness
    • Abuse
    • Adoption
  • Sexual Harassment
  • Workplace Violence
Employers:
  • Hospitals including prison and state facilities
  • Local, state and federal government
    • Departments of correction
    • Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Colleges and universities
  • Private practice

General Information and Strategies