Written by Laura Glitsos Wednesday, 19 August 2009 12:32
ON Tuesday night the fascinating and often misunderstood field of forensic science was exposed to more than 180 sci-curious attendees as a part of National Science Week.
While most of us may equate forensic investigation with popular US television shows, first speaker, Associate Professor Simon Lewis from Curtin University’s Department of Chemistry, said “reality is very different”.
Along with his father, highly-respected lawyer Lt Col Roger Lewis, Prof Lewis detailed the true nature of forensic chemistry careers and using science to solve crime.
“Forensic chemists all have widely different jobs,” Prof Lewis said.
“People have a view of chemistry professors as someone in a white coat, who doesn’t smell so good, sitting in a lab.
“That’s a problem for us in two ways.
“It makes it hard to recruit people into the field and it gives a false impression of chemistry.”
In his lecture, Prof Lewis gave a detailed outline of the huge array of science careers available to students, while Lt Col Lewis used the UK’s Soham murders as a case study.
He detailed careers from arson chemists to forensic botanists and everything in between.
He also said the upcoming fingerprint lectures are particularly fascinating for young students.
“These talks demonstrate that science as a whole has a broader impact than people, and students, think,” Prof Lewis said.
“It’s not necessarily just about getting people to have science careers, but encouraging people to think about science more positively and to be more inquiring about it.
“We have to make so many decisions, for example about what a politician is telling us about genetically modified organisms, but we don’t know whether they are telling the truth.”
Curtin University Dean of Science Jo Ward introduced the seminar by saying “…science underpins nearly everything, so we need education for both the public and the policy makers”.
“National Science Week helps raise the profile of science and demonstrates all the interesting careers.”
She also said the lectures help dispel many misconceptions about fields such as forensics.
Curtin’s School of Science outreach coordinator Emma Donnelly said the father and son team lectures have been so popular in the past several years the venues change each year to accommodate the growing numbers.
“We had to hold it at Horizon – The Planetarium this year because so many people booked in advance,” Ms Donnelly said.
Forensic science and engineering career