Laura McLester never set out to “collect degrees like baseball cards.” Before becoming a Teaching Assistant Professor and Digital Forensics Coordinator in the J. Frank Barefield, Jr. Department of Criminal Justice, she entered the University of Alabama at Birmingham as a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in Computer Forensics and Security Management (now called Cyber Security). Today, she may be one of the only—if not the only—UAB faculty members to hold degrees from all three University of Alabama System institutions.
McLester's academic journey began as an undergraduate student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, where she built a strong foundation in psychology through a small, close‑knit program that offered hands‑on research experience. She then earned a graduate degree in social work from the University of Alabama—a “phenomenal experience,” she said, that led to a paid internship and ultimately a role in oncology social work at Children’s Hospital of Alabama.
When family needs required more flexibility, McLester discovered open‑source intelligence and shifted her focus to cybersecurity at UAB. To her surprise, her social work background became a major advantage. “I went to a conference about the Trust and Safety technology field,” she recalled. “The industry folks there told me that their favorite nontraditional professional to hire is a social worker because they're good at reading between the lines and getting the full story.”
While a student at UAB, she formed a pivotal mentorship with Jeffery Walker, Ph.D., then the department chair. “He came through a forensics lab I was working in, which chairs don’t usually do, and was so personable and engaged. It really stood out to me,” she said. When she later had to choose between pursuing a Ph.D. or accepting a position at LinkedIn, she sought his advice and ultimately landed at LinkedIn.
McLester worked as a Cyber Threat Investigator and Senior Cyber Intelligence Analyst at the professional social networking service for several years, where her UAB degree gave her a competitive edge. “I was the only one on my team with academic experience in the field,” she said. “I understood technical data points, and because I’d practiced conducting investigations in my coursework, I could hit the ground running.”
McLester now brings her industry and investigative experience into her Digital Forensics classroom, ensuring her students are career ready. She emphasizes the practical skills she looked for when serving on hiring panels in the corporate world: correct technical vocabulary, clear communication, and concise writing—because, as she notes, “no one has time to read a ten-page paper.” She also incorporates AI-based simulations so students can practice real‑world investigative scenarios.
“When my students get asked in an interview how they’d investigate something, they’re not deer in headlights,” she explains. “They’ve worked through full scenarios, understand prioritization, and know how to collaborate across teams.”
Her advice to students is simple: “When someone invites you to coffee, go. Relationships are built over coffee.” She learned this firsthand when visiting LinkedIn employees invited her out during a campus event. “They got to know me as a person. Later, when I reached out, they said, ‘We have an internship role we’d like you to interview for.’ Being a known quantity makes a huge difference.”
Learn more about Digital Forensics in the J. Frank Barefield, Jr. Department of Criminal Justice.
