The Importance of Being the Prosecutor

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"Law and order" is like the whole long order. The old school law and order would say, you know, or even an SVU now it says that little proviso of "this is not a murder case." But yeah, but then a lot of times you look back at the old newspapers and you realize that that is like the entire thing. Right. Well, this is good. Let's switch gears from being the investigators to being the perpetrators. So we can maybe working our way historically works here. Like if so, if you were back in ancient times, what were the good ways to offer your nemesis? You know, besides just like bledgeoning.

Sometimes science is asking esoteric questions about the fundamental nature of reality. Other times, it just wants to solve a murder. Today’s guest, Raychelle Burks, is an analytical chemist at St. Edward’s University in Texas. Before becoming a full-time academic, she worked in a crime lab using chemistry to help police track suspects, and now she does research on building new detectors for use in forensic analyses. We talk about how the real world of forensic investigation differs from the version you see portrayed on CSI, and how real chemists use their tools to help law enforcement agencies fight crime. We may even touch on how criminals could use chemical knowledge to get away with their dastardly deeds. Raychelle Burks received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Nebraska, and is now an Assistant Professor at St. Edward’s University. Her current research focuses on the development of portable colorimetry sensors that can be used in the field. She is active on Twitter as @DrRubidium, and often appears as an expert on podcasts and TV documentaries, as well as speaking at conventions and festivals. She is an active advocate for women and underrepresented minorities in science. Web page Wikipedia Twitter Columns at Chemistry World Blog at Scientopia See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.