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News and Information about UF Forensic Science
Student Spotlight - Lisa Mundy
Lisa Mundy, MS, Analytical Chemist Supervisor
Philadelphia Bureau of Laboratory Services
Lisa Mundy, MS, has worked in the Office of the Medical Examiner Toxicology Lab for 11 years since earning a bachelor’s degree in 1995 in forensic chemistry from West Chester University in Pennsylvania. A fall 2006 graduate of the UF Forensic Toxicology master’s program, Mundy was promoted to supervisor this year.
Many undergraduate forensic programs don’t offer the depth of education needed for a career in toxicology, says Mundy, and that’s why she recommends graduate education.
Mundy found that what she was learning in the UF courses also applied to her job. Knowing the metabolic pathways of drugs helps her understand how to extract drug and metabolites from specimens; knowing the potential toxicity of a drug helps her correlate autopsy findings with toxicological studies, she said.
Working full time while caring for her family made the thought of graduate school a challenge to Mundy’s already full schedule. But, the UF online master’s program seemed to be the key to furthering her education. It allowed Mundy the flexibility to set her own schedule during the course of the semester.
“Being less structured than a traditional classroom setting requires the student to be more focused and organized so that deadlines are met, though, Mundy cautioned.
The use of discussion boards and chat sessions helped promote learning she said. The UF program has a great base of students because most are already working in the forensic field she said, and they have a lot of good information to contribute to the discussion boards. Faculty and teaching assistants are very helpful and knowledgeable too, she said.
“The discussion board was a great help when trying to find a method for the analysis of a certain drug, or when trying to see how other labs analyze a certain matrix,” Mundy said. “I liked the ability to interact with people from all over the country — and world.”