1. A system for the identification of microorganisms comprising: a coherent light source; a holder adapted to receive a substrate having a surface adapted for growth of microorganisms, a scanner adapted to scan a region of the substrate to identify a centroid position of a colony of microorganisms; an image capture device disposed to receive forward scattered light from the colony; and a first computer configured to extract a feature vector from the image, wherein an orientation of the coherent light source and the colony is configured to be adjusted so that a centroid of a coherent light beam substantially coincides with the centroid of the position of the colony.