Spotlight: Julia Lizik, Evidence of Bright Future for NJIT's First Forensic Science Freshmen Class

Walking through NJIT’s green spaces and residence hall courtyards Labor Day week, it’s not uncommon to hear pockets of conversation burst to life among the campus’s bright-eyed freshman newcomers, often of the different roads they’ve traveled to begin their collegiate journeys here at the start of the fall semester.

Among them is Julia Lizik. A four-hour drive up I-95 with her mother from their home in Frederick, Maryland, was Lizik’s road to NJIT, though the reasons behind her arrival are part of a rather new academic experience at the university. 

It was the launch of the university’s new Forensic Science degree program announced last year that led Lizik to where she’s standing today, representing the inaugural class of first-year forensic science majors to be enrolled at NJIT. 

However, as many who meet her learn, Lizik has been blazing a path toward a future in forensic research long before she and her mother loaded her belongings into her friend’s minivan and revved the engine to trek to Newark before the campus’s official move-in day Aug. 28.  

She’s had her sights set as early as grade school and has reached her new destination as a forensic investigator-in-training well ahead of schedule — in fact, she’s accelerated through elementary and high school two years early to be here. 

“Ever since I was a kid I have been interested in lab sciences and forensics,” said Lizik. “My mom and I would watch ‘Criminal Minds’ when I was younger and I was completely fascinated, though as I got older and read more about how forensic science actually works and all the fields for professionals to go into, I started considering it as a career.” 

“A lot of my motivation and support has come from my mom, especially in pursuing lab sciences as she did and in helping me graduate early,” said Lizik. “But she never knew that watching those shows together is what really first got me interested. ... She definitely sees that this is the path for me now.”

A major decision on that path would come last February, when Lizik discovered that NJIT’s forensic science program would be open to freshman enrollment this fall. The decision did not take long.  “I started my application the next day,” Lizik said.

The research-intensive forensic science program — the first of its kind in New Jersey — compelled Lizik and her mother to make an early visit to campus last spring to meet with the Dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts, Kevin Belfield, and the program’s head and Professor of Practice, David Fisher. 

“We talked a lot about the program’s new opportunities and its connections with the NYPD, New Jersey law enforcement and other forensic organizations,” said Lizik. “It was really exciting.”

Among those opportunities and additions in the program’s year two — a newly-minted, cutting-edge forensics research laboratory in Tiernan Hall; a new “forensic car” on campus dedicated to mock crime scene investigations; an expanding Forensics Club; and the arrival of new courses taught by active forensic professionals, such as Crime Scene Investigation.

Like the program she’s entering, Lizik’s experiences before touching down at NJIT have also been rather pioneering. If you ask her about it, she might bring up her early passion for lab research and genetics that inspired her to take extra summer courses in high school to learn about aspects of human body systems, microarrays and antiseptic techniques, and DNA and protein gel electrophoresis. An avid Girl Scout, she may also bring up her drive to serve the community, just as law enforcement and forensic professionals do. 

They have all translated into various successes early. Among those, in 2015 as a seventh grader, she was honored with the Maryland “Woman of Tomorrow Award” for achievement in community leadership, which included everything from helping revitalize park spaces and playgrounds, to funding outreach camps for young girls to get involved in STEM. 

However, new accomplishments are starting to shine through in her brief time as an NJIT student already. This summer, she became one of just nine recipients of a prestigious Avanade Scholarship at NJIT after successfully giving a winning presentation in front of NJIT’s Martin Tuchman School of Management Board of Advisors entitled, "The Use of Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence in Courtrooms." 

Her effort to earn the competitive global scholarship for young women pursuing STEM careers has financially paved the way for Lizik to enroll at NJIT.

“There was one spot left open when I applied this summer,” said Lizik. “I got a call that I had about a week to prepare and give the presentation of my life, and that it could change my life. … Without the scholarship, I wouldn’t be here today.” 

Her first involvement in it has been a winning one. In June, she joined eight NJIT Avanade scholars and competed in a national hackathon event at the Avanade FUEL Innovation, Leadership, and Technology Conference in Pomona, Calif. She took first place for creating an app, “HOM-E,” designed to help students facing homelessness secure affordable housing. 

Now, as she settles into her new campus surroundings, Lizik says she is most excited to grow into the NJIT community and experience college life at her own speed, particularly through the university’s archery and forensic science clubs — all while continuing toward a career in forensic psychology, eventually with the F.B.I. down the road.

“I am looking forward to being involved with the Forensics Club and being part of the environment here,” said Lizik. “Right now, I am very excited to be part of NJIT — learning, growing and creating memories.”