Welcome!

The idea for a landing place - a FOUNDATION - for the responder community brewed in my brain for years. I wanted to be a forensic anthropologist since I was in middle school. But how? Forensic science is a huge field and there is no right way to do it. Everyone has a different story, a different path to success, a different connection to the job. This platform strives to address that issue, guiding you from the beginning to end of your career path, through your goalposts and struggles - whatever that may look like. The goal of Forensics Found is to help you reach your goals. Maybe you need a few more CEUs. Or maybe you want to sleep better, exercise more, and rekindle your marriage. Big or small - I’ve got your six.

When I look back at my path to where I am now, I am proud of the things I accomplished. But it was not a direct route. I muddled along, weaving my way through college, graduate school, and different jobs in the field. And then I added a family to the mix. My FTOs didn’t cover work/life balance during training. My grad advisor didn’t talk about planning daycare while covering call. Did yours?

The nature of this job exposes us to some wild things - exciting, fun, interesting, gross, sad, scary. When you add lack of funding, poor management, short staffing, inconsistent or irregular scheduling and long spans of call or being awake, and so on, the normal emotions we feel while doing our work can seem abnormal or exaggerated. And they wonder why we have hijacked coping skills?!

All responders are welcome here - I want this to be a safe space to communicate and connect. Have a question about proficiency testing for your certification? Looking for another office’s SOPs to make your own? Having trouble with burnout or alcohol use? Looking to move jobs or retire completely, but not quite sure how to leave it all behind? I’ve got your six.