Forensic scientist discusses career with Brooklyn Middle STEAM School students

Nicole Praska, a forensic scientist at the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA), visited Brooklyn Middle STEAM School Dec. 5 to share information about her career path and the science behind forensics. 

Praska shared about her path to becoming a forensic scientist, which she said included several applications and interviews before she was able to secure a paid job in a lab.

“There’s always detours, and the road isn’t always smooth,” Praska said. “My advice to you would be to keep trying and working toward your goals.”

Students were so interested in Praska’s work using fingerprint technology to determine cause of death that classroom leaders had to eventually cut off the Q&A session to allow time for the planned activity, which was a fingerprint activity where the students closely examined their own fingerprints for different characteristics she had taught them about. 

Praska taught the students about latent prints and the techniques used to lift fingerprints from different objects and under different conditions.