What kind of job does "Greg" do on the TV show "CSI (in Vegas)"? Title? Education?

Question

I love all of the sciences and I am fascinated by forensics and crime-solving via scientific methods. I think I would love to work in a lab, analyzing physical evidence from crimes- and for lack of a better description- to perform the kind of work like the character "Greg" performs on the original CSI.

What is the actual title for a job like that? What kind of education does one need (particular major/classes, etc.)? Who would be the employers for such a job and what credentials and experience would impress them?

Do you work in this field? What are the high and low points? Best temperment suitable for the job? Hours? Anything else of interest about the reality of working such a job?

I'm looking for detailed answers that might help me get into the field .

I wasn't sure how to categorize this question. If you have a suggestion for a better category, please let me know.

Thanks!

I've also listed this question under "Careers". A responder from the other question said "DNA man", but I am also interested in all other forms of physical evidence when it comes to analyses. Any pertinent information will help. Thank you! :>

Answer 1

You answered much of the question yourself. The major field is forensics, and the part you're looking at is a subfield of criminology. You need enough of a basic science education to understand the principles involved and to be comfortable working with them. As you specialize, you emphasize the specifics likely to be involved in crimes. You study lots and lots of case history so you learn to recognize common evidences of common criminal acts. You learn criminal behavior so you know the most common things to look for. You hone your observational skills so you can recognize when something isn't normal and provides a clue. You learn to work effectively with other people so you can build on their strengths and compensate for your own weaknesses.

The most common observation on the TV shows by practicing forensic scientists is that no crime lab on earth will ever possess all of the equipment to which they have ready access, not to mention the equipment they invented. And of course, few real world mysteries are solved in an hour.

Answer 2

The actual job title for that kind of work is a 'criminalist'. However, if you are wanting to work in the field and lab, there is no such thing. Criminalists work in the lab only, and CSI's work at the crime scenes only. Everyone has a different specific job, but works together. A criminalist sounds like what you are looking for, but most of the time in big crime labs everybody has a specific job. A criminalist is usually recognized as an expert in at least one area of forensic science. One criminalist may examine trace evidence only, one may examine, develop, and enter fingerprints into the AFIS system, called a latent print examiner. There are firearms examiners, people who work in toxicology, serology/ DNA, or those who work with impression evidence.
You would probably find the trace evidence or impression evidence examination most exiting since these types of evidence can include countless types of evidence.
You cannot do this type of work with a two year degree in criminal justice. There is a lot of science envolved and you really have to know what you are doing. If you make a mistake and contaminate or destroy evidence on accident, you may blow a case. You would have to obtain a bachelors degree in a science such as Chemistry or Biology. The best degree you could get in order to enter this field would be a degree in Forensic Science.
You can go to the following site to look at a detailed job description for a criminalist: http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/JOBDSC10.pdf
Also, you can go to this site for job descriptions of just about any job in Forensic Science. You might find something you like even better. Just scroll down on the page til you get to job descriptions: http://www.crime-scene-investigator.net/employment.html

Answer 3

In all honesty, the "cool" stuff that you see the CSI characters doing in the lab can be done by just about any lab technician who has studied criminal justice at any 2 year vo-tech school.

Answer 4

"Laverne and Shirley" and "Simon and Simon" informed me that i could stay issues "sooner or later At A Time" yet I informed them "Gimme A wreck!" i want some "sturdy circumstances", "Rosanne" and "Mork And Mindy" pronounced "it quite is approximately Time" I grew to alter into "the main suitable American Hero" and those are "The data Of existence" as "Clarissa Explains all of it" !!!!

Answer 5

Greg Sanders (played by Eric Szmanda) is the newest field worker on the CSI team since the season 5 episode "Who Shot Sherlock". He idolizes Grissom, and is known for his "wacky" behavior.

Szmanda is best known for playing Marilyn Manson-fanatic/forensic geek Greg Sanders on the wildly popular crime drama television series CSI. His character's trademark is listening to heavy metal while conducting forensic research in the Las Vegas Crime Lab.

:: About Greg Sanders Role/ Character ::

Greg Sanders (born May 5, 1975) is a fictional character featured on the US crime drama television show, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Greg is played by Eric Szmanda.

Greg Sanders grew up in San Gabriel, California. Although friends and family told him that science was for geeks, Greg knew from a young age that he wanted to become a scientist. In Coming of Rage (season 4 episode 10), we find out that he had a palate expander, braces, a retainer, and head gear while growing up. Although he was never good at sports, Greg was the captain of the high school chess team. In Fannysmackin' (season 7 episode 4), Greg reveals that his overprotective mother refused to let him play sports in high school because he was her only child.

Greg successfully managed to juggle studying and athletics, and eventually went on to earn his degree in chemistry from Stanford University, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He has a wide variety of hobbies, including surfing, scuba diving, and numismatics (the study of money - in the episode Precious Metal his knowledge of the subject helps the investigation along). In Precious Metal we also learn Greg likes supermodels and latex.

Greg could be considered the most "normal" member of the CSI team. He's always smiling, he remains somewhat optimistic and he maintains a lot of interests aside from his Crime Lab work (he listens to Marilyn Manson while running lab machines and hides porn magazines in some area cabinets). This is most likely due to his youth; he hasn't been fully subjected to the horrors of this job like the rest of the team. He is also not concerned with the financial aspect of a job -- just the joy that it brings.

In one episode (season 3 episode 22 Play With Fire) he was involved in a lab explosion, which he survived. In another episode (season 7 episode 4 Fannysmackin') he is severely injured after he risks his life to save a tourist being beaten to death by a gang of teenage thrill seekers. He later tells Gil Grissom that he has kept his promotion to CSI a secret from his parents because he didn't want to worry them. Grissom tells Greg his mother will be proud of him for saving a man's life.

He started out as the resident lab rat, sitting quietly in his lab working away on the loads of evidence and DNA the CSIs brought in, usually responsible for making discoveries about pieces of evidence that would crack a case open. Eventually Greg grew tired of the lab and longed for a position out in the field. He failed his first test when he urinated in a toilet at a crime scene, but eventually attained the rank of CSI level one. At his low rank, he mostly only assists at crime scenes, collecting evidence and helping the more experienced CSIs. He rarely interviews suspects. However, he later graduated to investigating crime scenes on his own. In Fannysmackin' (season 7 episode 4), Greg celebrated over dinner with the female district attorney after his testimony at a jury trial helped put away a criminal.

Early on in the show, Greg had a huge crush on Sara Sidle, which may or may not have disappeared. However the two remain close friends, as Sara was Greg's mentor through his training and continues to offer him helpful hints.

Greg is also notable for his ever-changing hairstyles.

:: Greg Sanders' Education ::

From the official CSI: Crime Scene Investigation novels, written by Max Allan Collins, the seventh installation into the novel series- Killing Game, we learn that Greg was a child prodigy.

Excerpt from the book, page 114, lines six - 11:

" A precocious kid who'd started matriculating a year early, he went from public school, where he regularly blew through tests, to an academy that at least presented him a more significant challenge; then Greg had gone on to Stanford before spending two years as a lab tech at the San Francisco PD. "

Then from the same book, at page 117, lines 12 - 18:

" Through most of his life, Greg had fought the prodigy's natural urge to rush through things. A lot of school, especially high school, had been painfully easy for him. He would wait until the night before (or even the morning) before class to do his homework. This habit had stayed with him, though the lab had nullified that somewhat. "

For more info, please check the sources provided below & you can also read Greg Sanders' bio in the CSI official website at http://www.cbs.com/primetime/csi/bios/index.php?cast_member=eric

;-)