Media Release

Mangaluru, Dec 6: The department of chemistry, St?Agnes College (Autonomous), Mangalore, organized a guest lecture titled 'Significance and Career Opportunities in Forensic Science', as part of launching the value-added course in forensic science on December 2 and 29 students participated.

The resource person for the programme was Dr Saritha D’Souza, associate professor and head of the department of MSc criminology and forensic science, School of Social Work, Roshni Nilaya.

The event was held under the guidance of Helen Serrao, head of the department of chemistry.

Dr Saritha introduced forensic science as the application of natural sciences in crime investigation and legal justice, explaining how chemistry, biology, and physics concepts analyze evidence via DNA fingerprinting, chromatography, and mass spectrometry. She covered major branches forensic psychology, forensic entomology, forensic toxicology, fingerprint analysis, and odontology and highlighted its role in crime-solving, unbiased evidence, disaster-victim identification, cybersecurity, counter-terrorism, and public safety.

Career-wise, forensic professionals work in forensic science laboratories, police departments, central agencies (IB, CBI, NCRB), private firms, media, research, corporate sectors, and entrepreneurship. Roles include forensic science technician, criminalist, Scene-of-Crime Officer (SOCO), document analyst, and senior/junior scientist. The lecture gave valuable insights, created awareness of diverse pathways, and successfully launched the value-added course in forensic science.