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Asked by courtneyy21 to Amelia, Clem, Izzy, Sarah on 12 Mar 2014.
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Isabel Webb answered on 12 Mar 2014:
For forensic science the most important thing you need is Chemistry – so you can understand the tests that you are doing. Having biology can be useful if you want to do forensic toxicology (tests on any toxins found) or pathology (cutting up bodies, although you also need to do medicine for this). A big warning is not to do a forensic science degree at University – most forensic science places would prefer a chemistry-type degree.
For marine biology, obviously biology is important, and I’d say maybe geography as well. Once you go into University you will be able to pick topics that really interest you and would be suited to Marine Biology.
For both of these things Maths would be useful – it helps everywhere in science!
And the biggest thing: Passion. If you can show that you are really excited to work in these areas, it will impress people. Go to the beach and look at the biology and be able to talk about it, or read books about forensics. If you are passionate about something, it will show.
p.s. I used to want to be a forensic scientist myself! 😀
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anon answered on 12 Mar 2014:
Hello Courtney
I’m not sure of your age, but i would Highly recommend studying Biology and either Chemistry for A-level, these are tough A-levels but will set you up nicely for studying Science at University.
There are degrees in both forensics and marine biology at many UK universities for you to get stuck into.
But my recommendation is to study a nice broad Biology degree as I did. I was lucky to do both forensics and marine biology modules as part of my degree, and many other things. I enjoyed it all, but it was the Plants which captured my heart!
Who knows what might capture yours on the way!
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Sarah Harvey answered on 12 Mar 2014:
I used to want to be a forensic scientist too!
Agreed, Chemistry is pretty key in addition to Biology for all the DNA related techniques.
My friend also got into forensics by a totally different route – she did an archaeology degree then did a masters course in forensic archaeology which is basically very old crime scenes like mass graves, but the basic principles are the same!
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Amelia Frizell-Armitage answered on 12 Mar 2014:
Are you able to do work experience either as part of a scheme at your school or maybe in the summer holidays?
The work of a forensic scientist and a marine biologist are quite different, so doing some work experience in both will be a good way to decide which one you want to do. This will also give you a better chance of getting into the university you want to go to and getting a job afterwards.
If you do a Google search for forensic science labs or marine biology organisations in your area you could email a few and see if they would let you come in and help out for a week or two.
Make sure you do well in science and maths at GCSE, and then as the others say do biology and chemistry for A-level. If you enjoy maths this may be a good option to take as well.
If you still can’t chose between forensics and marine biology I would say do a broad biology or biochemistry degree! This was you can chose the options you want and specialize in your final year. I did a biology degree and in my first year did a bit of everything.
If you go down the marine biology route make sure you go to a university near the sea as then you’ll get to go out on cool boat trips and spend a lot of time on the beach!
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