Re: What exactly does a trace evidence analysist do?

That is exactly what a trace analyst does, Lynda.

Trace evidence is extremely important in forensic science. Trace 
evidence are those things that are so small that they can be 
transfered between two persons or materials or surfaces without 
being noticed. It is sometimes referred to as trace and transfer 
evidence. It can include everything from glass to hair to fibers to soil 
to blood and body fluids.

The job of the trace analyst is to identify and match these tiny pieces 
of evidence.

If you think this is the field you want to go into, I would strongly urge 
you to go into the physical or life sciences. A strong background 
in math, physics, chemistry and/or biology is very important to 
forensics. You might also want to check out the web site of the 
American Association for Forensic Science. Their address is  http://www.aafs.org.

T. J. Wilkinson
Research Fellow
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory