By Joan Tupponce

Even before the autopsy, Sophie Laman had discovered what forensic scientists have known for years: The field “is really cool,” she said.

Forensic science hadn’t been on Laman’s radar until her father, a physician, suggested it as a major at Virginia Commonwealth University.

“I’ve always really liked the sciences. They felt like the right fit for me,” said Laman, an Honors College student who graduates this spring with a forensic science degree (biology concentration) in the College of Humanities and Sciences and minors in chemistry, biology and pre-medicine.

After talking with her dad, Laman researched forensic science and was drawn to its use of scientific methods to help solve crimes and its powerful role in legal proceedings.

“You have to know what you are doing – know what the results mean and how you can interpret the results to help solve a crime,” said Laman, a Tennessee native who was attracted to VCU because of its comprehensive focus on forensics.

She has studied under a forensic anthropologist, a forensic entomologist and a crime scene technician.

“I think I made a really good decision pertaining to my major based on how many professors are professionals in the field,” Laman said. “I’ve also had two professors for forensic medicine that were medical examiners.”

In her final semester this spring, Laman was completing an internship with a firearms professor, using a familiar tool in fascinating ways.

“I am using microscopes to assess bullets and cartridge cases. I conclude if they were fired by the same gun, and measure things like weight, diameter, rifling marks and more,” she said. “In forensic microscopy, I learned the ins and outs of how they work. I didn’t expect to like using a microscope so much. I didn’t think of myself as a lab person, but I am.”

Outside the classroom, Laman is a member of the Forensic Science Student Club and the forensic honor society Delta Epsilon. During her junior year, she also served as a teaching assistant for Flourishing, an Honors College course that helps freshmen adjust to campus life.

Laman cited two of her Department of Forensic Science professors – associate chair Eric Hazelrigg and associate professor Stephanie Walcott – as being instrumental in guiding her through her courses.

“Sophie was an excellent student — engaged, responsible and academically strong,” said Hazelrigg, who wrote her a letter of recommendation for an internship with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation. “I understand it was a highly competitive process, and I was pleased to support her in that effort.”

Laman secured the summer internship and will work in the TBI’s drug division.

“I am hoping in the future to secure a job with them. I will also be working this summer in a hospital doing clinical research,” she said.

Such a combination extends a theme from summer 2023, when Laman shadowed a medical examiner in Tennessee between her junior and senior years at VCU. The role included the chance to attend an autopsy.

“My experience at VCU and my major allowed me to get into the facility,” she said. “I thought I was going to sit in a corner. But when we moved into the autopsy, I had the chance to call out each organ as the medical examiner pulled them out. I weighed them and let him know the weight.”

The most memorable moment for Laman? She was allowed to remove the brain from a cadaver.

“That is something I will not forget,” she said.