Influential Woman · Forensics

Dianna Arndt

Forensic Investigator, Texas Department of Public Safety

TX 79510

2Awards received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's Degree in Biology Degree Master's Degree Degree Doctorate in Forensics Member International Association for Identification Member Texas Division of the International Association for Identification

Her Story

About Dianna

My career in forensics began unexpectedly over 13 years ago when I needed a job and started as a secretary at Phoenix Police Department. With my biology degree, I transitioned into crime scene work, going out with detectives and eventually moving into their forensic biology section. After relocating to Texas, I continued my forensic work with Abilene Police Department. My typical day varies greatly - the public really determines how my day goes depending on how they act. I process evidence for fingerprints, DNA, and trace materials, do extensive report writing and presentations, and provide testimony for court purposes. Recently, I achieved one of my biggest professional milestones by becoming one of the first 10 civilian forensic investigators for the Texas Rangers, selected from a large pool of qualified applicants. This is a brand new position and represents a huge accomplishment in my career field. I also completed my doctorate in forensics, which was a personal goal I always wanted to achieve. I balanced this while being a single mother after my husband passed away during my master's program, proving to my kids and my late husband that you can push through adversity. In 2024, I received Abilene Police Department's Civilian of the Year, and in 2025, I received the Police Department Employee of the Year.

Quick Facts

IndustryForensics
Based inTX
Specialty Crime Scene Investigation, Forensic Biology, Fingerprint Analysis
- DNA Analysis
- Trace Evidence
Volunteers with Criminal Justice Advisory Board Member for Abilene AISD
- Criminal Justice Advisory Board Member for Hardin-Simmons University

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Dianna

01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

This is a very selfless career, because you're out there working for victims and defendants, and so you always need to remain unbiased in that. You have to take your own opinion out of things. Really, it's one of those things where you're just getting out there, getting the facts for both the victim and the suspect. We don't just work for one side. So I think just, you know, come into it knowing that you're doing great work for all of the people involved in probably what is the very worst day of their lives. The side that you're working for really is the truth - whether it falls in place on the victim's end or for whoever the suspect may be, what really matters is the facts.

02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

With any field, you always have one or two bad apples in the bunch, and unfortunately, those are the ones that get highlighted the most. Defense is very particular of our processes and things like that, which I think is a good thing, but I do think that they focus on the minor mistakes more than the major mistakes. For those of us that are doing the correct things, we get hammered on misspellings or verbiage, whereas the truth is the truth, and that's what we're presenting. But people can skew that one way or another, which is not what we do. We do the facts. I think that's kind of the problem with our field - when people do use their personal bias versus just the facts.

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