Daniel Wardman graduated from Seton Hill in December 2018 with a degree in 法医科学. 搬到佛罗里达后, he got a job at Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and now works at the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office in Daytona Beach. He credits his success as a forensic scientist to his education at Seton Hill. He recently shared his thoughts on his education, his career, and his future goals with us.

Can you give me a brief timeline after you graduated from Seton Hill? 

我于2018年12月毕业. 我本来是回家当酒保的, applying for jobs nationwide as a crime scene investigator. In the summer of 2019, I moved to northern Florida where I live now. I started working as a Crime Scene Investigator with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office that winter. I worked there for just over a year and met my current employer at a class I had signed up for to further my studies while on the job. I must have left a good impression and some time later was asked to join their forces at the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office in Daytona Beach. I started there in April 2020 and can’t see myself doing anything else! I hope to one day attend graduate school at University of Florida to further my education in forensics.   

What is your typical day like as a forensic scientist?

My day-to-day activities include responding to deaths within the county’s jurisdiction that are accidental, 自杀, 杀人, 未知的, 有时是自然的, 取决于发生了什么事. It is our job at the office to determine cause and manner of death via information collected from hospitals, 家庭, 执法, 现场调查, 尸检和实验室工作. At this time I am a forensic investigator but in the future I will be tasked with autopsy technician duties once I get a firm understanding of all of the inner workings at the office. 

你对这份工作感兴趣的是什么?

每天都有不同的东西. 你永远不知道你会遇到什么. The unpredictability of humans is especially interesting. 

"I can not stress enough as a graduate what the science department at Seton Hill means to me."

How did your education at Seton Hill prepare you for your current job?

当我回顾我的教育和我现在所处的位置, I am very happy I had all those chemistry and bio courses. It very much helps to understand the process of how drugs can impact the body. A lot of terminology and basic fundamentals that I learned at Seton Hill are important to understand on a daily basis at work. 不过，并不是所有的东西都与化学有关. My 法医科学 courses really helped me understand scene response in aiding local 执法 in their investigations and being able to soak up the information at a scene and gaining a better understanding of what may have happened without having been there during the incident. This helps me be able to relay that information to our pathologist who does the examination so they can best determine cause and manner of death. 

What advice would you give for students looking to get into a forensics career?

First off, decide if you want to be lab-oriented or field-oriented. 对我来说，永远是球场. 如果你想参加外勤, 你需要和戈尔在一起很舒服, 死亡和不愉快. I think in 宾西法尼亚 they have a coroners system - that would be a great place to intern and understand the field side of things and see if you really do want to be dealing with death up close and personal. It is not for everyone and it’s best to find that out sooner than later! 

But also remember you have an amazing group of professors at Seton Hill who are going to challenge you. 他们只想给你最好的未来. I can not stress enough as a graduate what the science department at Seton Hill means to me. 尤其是夫人. Flowers who helped mold me into being the best forensic scientist I could be. Without the adversity faced in those challenging courses I wouldn't be where I am today. 

If anyone in the 法医科学 program has any questions please contact me through Mrs. Flowers, I will gladly lend an ear and speak my opinion. 

你为什么选择西顿希尔大学? 

I began my collegiate journey at a community college in my hometown. I had originally started in a nursing program there while also playing soccer and trying to extend my competitive career beyond high school/travel soccer programs. Since that first school only offered two years of eligibility, I had to transfer. After some long discussions and time on the road with my 家庭 visiting schools, we decided that Seton Hill would be the best fit for me to progress academically and as a 学生运动员. 

是什么让你想学法医学的? 

总的来说，我一直很喜欢科学, 一些心理学背景知识, 以及对犯罪的理解. So the 法医科学 program really piqued my interest and I knew it would be something I could excel in as it matched my inquisitive mindset. 在一天结束的时候, the stars lined up for me and to this day I believe I made the right choice in changing majors and starting a new path at a new school.