Curiosity and excitement filled the room as students prepared to dive into the world of crime scene investigation on Nov. 13. Karen Foreman, Chief Medical Examiner Investigator for the Pottawatomie County Medical Examiner’s Office, visited the Gretna East forensics classes for a presentation on death investigation and what pursuing a career in forensics is like.
“I wanted to give students a good representation of who I am, what my career and education have been,” Foreman said. “What a death investigator does, what we’re looking for at a death scene and what that can tell us about the decedent and circumstances surrounding their death.”
Her insights gave the students a clearer understanding of the demand that goes along with being in the forensics field.
“There was so much to learn from the presentation, but the biggest takeaway I had was that there’s so much work that goes into being in the forensic science field,” senior Jada Randecker said. “She explained to us all the internships, jobs and education she has, and went into the little details of her current work. It was super fun to learn about and get specific examples and answers to any questions we had about what she does.”
Other students realized how unpredictable and complex investigations can be.
“What shocked me during this presentation was that she used pictures and cases from actual scenes she investigated herself,” junior Sydnee Barr said. “It was also when she showed a particularly gruesome scene that a person would think someone was murdered in, but then explained that the cause of death was actually natural due to medical reasons, which taught us that even the most bloody scenes could still be a natural death.”
Foreman has been growing her experience in forensics for almost 20 years. She started as an Identification Technician with the Council Bluffs Police Department, then moved on to the Omaha Police Department as a crime scene technician before starting her current job.
“I very much enjoyed the variety that forensics brought; that training and education gave you a box of tools to use at crime scenes, and then learning at those crime scenes, which tools, education and training to pull out and process that crime scene with,” Foreman said. “I liked that variability and that everything was always a little bit different and interesting, and people are just wild.”
Encouraging students to learn from experts, science teacher Jess Self welcomes opportunities for guest speakers.
“I love having any guest speaker come talk,” Self said. “It is very difficult to connect with people who are willing to do this, let alone talk more than once, so it can be very exciting for us. I want students to gain more perspective and experience from professionals in the fields we discuss to help encourage them to find new passions. I would love to encourage more parents and community members to reach out if they are interested in speaking to my forensic science classes.”
Foreman is using her passion to help inspire the younger generation, including her stepdaughter, senior Olivia Weatherford.
“I plan to pursue Forensics in the future because of my step-mom,” Weatherford said. “From the day she entered my life, I’ve always taken inspiration from her. Not only did she inspire my career choice, she inspired the person I am today.”
