PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — When Antionette Campbell started her career in forensic science — and even earlier, while studying chemistry at Temple — she didn’t find many people like her in the field.
“It was lonely being a Black woman in science with no one who was there to support you. And I went through the same thing at Temple, not meeting a lot of Black women in science,” said Campbell.
“I would come across a lot of people who would be in awe when they found out I was a forensic scientist.”
She wanted to help other women and people of color know they can pursue a career in forensics, so she started the Association of Women in Forensic Science, and Club Philly Forensics for kids ages 12-18.
“It can be intimidating,” Campbell said. “If someone is not offered the opportunity to take science as part of their curriculum in school, it may make them feel like they can't achieve that if they are not doing well in it, or it could be that they are not meeting people from the STEM fields.”
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Campbell introduces teens and pre-teens to forensic science skills in interactive scenarios — basically, having them solve a mystery.
“I like giving them crime scenarios without telling them the answers, and then they have to figure it out,” she said.
She adds that forensic science is popular right now because of true crime shows, but the reality isn't exactly what's portrayed on TV.
“A lot of people will ask me if I've seen a dead person, or if I do autopsies, because that's what they see on television. They don't understand that there are different fields in forensics,” Campbell said.
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“They also get wrong [the fact that] when we are doing analysis, that we get the results quickly. And that doesn't happen. It depends on the size of the case, and we don't always get the results fast.”
Click the following links to find more about all of Campbell's programs:
— AWIFS.org
— Facebook
— Instagram
— Twitter
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