The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) was created to help law enforcement
throughout the state investigate crimes. One of the ways the OSBI does this is providing
laboratory services to all law enforcement agencies in the state. The OSBI lab has six divisions:
Forensic Toxicology, Forensic Chemistry, Trace Evidence, Firearms and Toolmarks, Forensic
Biology, Latent Prints, and Digital Evidence. This summer I worked in the Forensic Chemistry
Unit under Penny Cooper. This experience allowed me to see what it was like to work in the
Forensic Chemistry Unit as well as determine if I would be interested in other units. It was very
interesting to experience the things that I had learned about in class, which allowed me a better
understand of quality assurance and quality control measures, and the use of presumptive testing
and how it can guide the analysis. Overall it was a very eye-opening experience that made me
consider all my options after graduation and start to figure out what I would like to do for the rest
of my career.
