Monday, November 8th, marks National STEM Day as the U.S. celebrates the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math education for today’s students. STEM professionals at the FBI have opportunities to work with advanced technologies to address unique investigative and intelligence challenges not found in the private sector. Their expertise applies to forensic science, computer technology, cyber security, electronic surveillance, biometrics, encryption, and more. Here are some ways you can celebrate STEM Day with us!

Travel Around the World with a Portland Forensic Examiner Supervisory Special Agent Betsy Bartko who has traveled from Africa to the Arctic, using her STEM skills to work everything from child exploitation cases to computer intrusions. SSA Bartko is currently the Director of the Northwest Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory. Read more about Betsy’s story here.

Explore STEM careers at the Bureau Ready for a challenge? Check out just some of the careers STEM students could have at the FBI:

• Cryptologist/Cryptanalyst
• Data Communications Systems Analyst
• Document Analyst
• Electronics Engineer
• Explosives/Incendiary Devices Analyst
• Forensic Scientist (DNA, hair, latent fingerprints, firearms, tool marks, questioned documents, etc.)
• Hazardous Materials Expert
• Mathematician
• Mechanical Engineer
• Photographic Technologist
• Physical Scientist
• Software Engineer

You can find out more about FBI STEM careers on our FBI Jobs website!

Diving Deep into the Dark Web as the coronavirus pandemic spread through the United States, the existing epidemic of drug addiction accelerated alongside it. In its preliminary data, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that overdose deaths reached an all-time high with almost 100,000 fatal overdoses recorded from March 2020 to March 2021. Read more about how FBI agents and analysts are joining with partner agencies to dive deep into the dark web and encrypted apps as drug dealing goes high tech.

FBI Evidence Response Teams – The Real Crime Scene Investigators Rush into a crime scene and you may destroy the tread marks the suspect left in the dirt. Handle a glass carelessly and you can mar the fingerprints left on it. Seal a blood-soaked sock into a plastic bag and your evidence may mold before it reaches the crime lab. Learn more about how the FBI trains its evidence collection teams to be the best in the world. Also, peer into the Evidence Response Team toolbox to see how everyday items like super glue and tape measures along with specialized tools, light sources, and chemicals help the team process a scene.

X-Files? No. UFO files? Yes!

Flying discs. Saucers. Flapjacks. Has the FBI really opened cases on UFOs? Yes! Listen to a recent episode of our Inside the FBI Podcast to hear a discussion with the Bureau’s historian to uncover the truth about some of our noteworthy cases involving unidentified flying objects, or UFOs.