Tag Archives: Forensics

#StaffsPGR Conference 2018

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Yesterday saw the annual Staffordshire University Postgraduate Research Conference.The conference provides the opportunity for current PhD students to present their research.

The day started with refreshments, then the conference was opened by Prof. Douglas Burnham and  Prof. Martin Jones, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, gave the introductory, welcome speech.

Deputy Vice Chancellor, Prof. Martin Jones, Prof. Douglas Burnham and Prof. Martin Parker.

 

The Key note speaker was Prof. Martin Parker from the University of Bristol, who focused his speech on ‘Everything you wanted to know about rejection but were afraid to ask’. He gave some advice to fellow researchers about not being afraid of rejection.

 

 

 

After a quick break for refreshments, the first session of the presentations began from students in Business, Education, Health and Forensics subject areas.

Sophie Hartless presenting her research on the ‘critical Evaluation of DNA Recovery Methods for Forensic Purposes’.

Megan Needham presenting her research on ‘Establishing Effective Documentation Strategies for Fingerprint Examinations’

Laura Wilkinson presenting her research: ‘An Investigation into the Interpretation of Hair Evidence for Casework’.

Lunch was at 1pm with a Poster Presentation Exhibition, followed by the second presentation session for students in Applied Technology and Humanities.

Alexia Rothwell talks through her research: ‘Multidisciplinary Intervention Strategies in Firearms Trafficking’.

Esme Hookway with her poster on her research: ‘Troubled Times: An Investigation of Medieval Hospitals as Places of Refuge for Pregnant Women and Children’ (supervised by Dr Kirsty Squires and Prof. John Casella).

The afternoon continued with a Panel Discussion – ‘What can you do with a PhD’? – followed by a Three Minute Thesis Competition, with presenters Danial Jovanovska, Ramy Hammady, Rohit Adhikari and Hussain al-Ezee. The day concluded at 5pm with closing remarks.

Panel Discussion: What Can You Do With a PhD?

Congratulations to everyone who presented their research at the Staffordshire University Postgraduate Research Conference 2018 #StaffsPGR

 

Forensic and Crime Science Society Hosts Student-Led Conference

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On the 21st March 2018, the Forensic and Crime Science Society organised and hosted a Student Led Conference. The aim of the conference was to promote and encourage students to showcase their own research and to develop their skills, whilst inspiring other students to do the same.

The event was formally opened with a welcome talk by Dr Sean Curley, Dean for the School of Law, Policing and Forensics. Dr Curley greeted the students and their student colleagues; also in attendance at the conference were representatives from the staff of Staffordshire University, as well as invited guests and experts.

Dr Sean Curley, Dean of the School of Law, Policing and Forensics, opened the event

After the first round of presentations by students and guest speakers, a special lunch and poster presentation was provided. This gave further opportunities for everyone involved in the conference to discuss the presentations and to provide a vital networking opportunity for the student and staff in attendance.

Dominic Davis- Foster: developing a system for identifying the brand of ammunition from gun-shot residue.

Kurstie Burgess, a past student, gave her talk on crime scene reconstruction and shared some employability advice.

Sophena’s research examines how individuals view injury maps in court and explores a move to an interactive viewing format, using participants.

Nadine’s final year research focuses on extracting data from Fitbit devices for use as evidence in forensic investigation. It also features in the Journal of the Crime Sciences – CSEye.

Alice presented her research on using images to develop a method using RGB values for identification & quantify fibres.

Lauren presented her research on disarticulated remains.

Well done to all of the students involved and a huge thank you to our guest speakers and visitors who attended.

The Science that Could Revolutionise Time Measurements in Forensic Investigations

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Dr Graham Williams, Head of Criminal Justice and Forensic Science, discusses how new research ‘findings have made great contributions to the area of “temporal forensics”, some of which could vastly improve our understanding of what happens to our bodies after we die’. The full article, on The Conversation, can be accessed here.

A Visit from South Cheshire College

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South Cheshire College enjoyed an educational visit to Staffordshire University’s crime scene house and labs, before Easter.

After their arrival and welcome, they listened to a presentation on Crime Scene Documentation and Packaging Presentation. They were then split into groups to go to the crime scene house or lab and swapped after lunchtime.

Wearing the correct attire, they carried out crime scene processing at the crime scene house, looking for evidence.

At the labs, they carried out an analysis of the evidence.

They gained an insight into some of the processes undertaken, including fingerprints (inking/dusting and lifting), footwear (ESLA, casting and comparison), documents (ESDA/VSC), presumptive testing suspect powders and GC-MS interpretation.

Introducing the Forensic Fibres Microplastic Research Group

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The Forensic Fibres Microplastic Research Group, here at Staffordshire University, are currently undertaking projects in a variety of areas surrounding microplastics and plastic pollution.

Currently, they are working collaboratively with the University of Palermo, University of Malta and AquaBioTech on the ‘SeaSweep’ project, to monitor marine litter in European seas using Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

Another collaborative project they are contributing to is ‘Marine Microplastics: a Multidisciplinary Study Quantifying Sources, rates and sinks’ with the University of Bristol. This project aims to gain a further understanding of the sources, transport and fate of marine microplastics, to assess the risks associated with microplastics in the oceans.

On Wednesday 7th March 2018, the team attended the ‘Plastics in the Ocean: Challenges and Solutions’ conference in Cambridge hosted by the British Antarctic Survey. During the event they disseminated information about two other projects they are undertaking at Staffordshire University.

“We are conducting research into the level of microplastic pollution in freshwater, specifically the River Trent, by collecting sediment and water samples from multiple different locations. We will be collecting these samples along its duration from where it begins in Biddulph Moor, Staffordshire, to where it meets the River Ouse and forms the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire. This is to ensure that microplastic pollution can be more accurately quantified. Additionally, we are aiming to combine forensic techniques of fibre analysis, contamination prevention, evidence tracking and evaluation with machine learning and computer vision to create a fully automated method for quantifying and characterising macro and micro plastic pollution. “

On the 23rd May 2018, Dr Claire Gwinnett also delivered a presentation on the comparison of analytical techniques for microplastic analysis at the Royal Society of Chemistry Microplastic workshop.

Dr Claire Gwinnett

Finally, we can now announce that our very own Dr Claire Gwinnet has been recognised with a prestigious scholarship for her research into the global problem of microplastics. She is the second person from the School Law, Policing and Forensics to receive this award and is among only 150 people to receive the Winston Churchill Traveling Fellowship this year.

This funding will allow Dr Gwinnett to build on this research by travelling across the USA and Australasia, visiting fellow scientists who also partake in the analysis of microplastics and the education around plastic pollution. She will be working with the Rozalia Project joining them on their 2018 expedition along the Hudson River, sampling microplastics from the river and the air from onboard what is recognised as the greenest sailing research vessel in the world, the famous American Promise.

You can keep update with their research news on Twitter and their Blog.

 

Innovation Through Collaboration: INTREPID Conference 2018

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The Staffordshire Forensic Partnership (SFP) was invited to participate in the 2018 INTREPID conference, entitled ‘Innovation through Collaboration’ held in Leicester on 1st-2nd March 2018.    

The two-day event, jointly run by the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences, was well attended by delegates from all over the country including Police Scotland, which considering this was during the heavy snow was quite impressive. Though Senior Sergeant Duncan McCarthy from the Queensland Police Service won the prize for the furthest travelled.

Dr Claire Gwinnett

We took three students, Sophie Hartless (PhD student), Jessica Dunne (3rd year student) and Jonathan Andrews (3rd year student), who presented posters on their work as part of the SFP.

Left to right: Jessica Dunne, Sophie Hartless and Johnathan Andrews

Jessica won 1st prize for her poster on ‘Recovery of DNA from Aluminium Powder Fingerprint Tape Lifts Using DNA-17’.  Stuart Bell (Staffordshire Police) and David Flatman-Fairs (Staffordshire University) also gave an oral presentation entitled ‘Staffordshire Forensic Partnership: Past, Present and Future’ on the second day.

Jessica Dunne with her certificate

What You Can Expect on Our Offer Holder Days

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We had our third Offer Holder Day, on Saturday 17th February, for our 2018 entry applicants. The School of Law, Policing and Forensics applicants met our staff, a few of our students, and experienced taster sessions of what they can expect if they choose to study at Staffordshire University.

Chemistry is a part of the School of Law, Policing and Forensics, and is new for 2018. Our Chemistry applicants had hands on experience in our labs, where they conducted some paracetamol analysis and calculations .

Law applicants on a mixture of our Law courses, including the new BA Criminal Justice with Offender Management, got involved in two interactive sessions.

Louis Martin and Anna Garland used real life case studies and encouraged interactive discussions. Louis focused on serial killers and Criminal Law and Anna discussed the core areas of Legal study that students can expect to learn about (Contract Law, Tort Law, Constitutional Law, Property Law, Equitable Remedies, EU Law and Criminal Law), using a few of the following examples:

Donoghue v Stevenson (1932)
The Conjoined Twins: Surgical Separation (2001)
Jolly v Sutton LBC (2000).

Former Senior Investigating Officer for Staffordshire Police and Course Leader of our Policing and Criminal Investigation courses, Phil Lee, briefed our applicants and then took them to the crime scene house; they took the role of Senior Investigating Officers, where they used body cameras and recorded evidence.

 

Professor James Treadwell encouraged our Sociology and Criminology applicants to think like a Sociologist and Criminologist when discussing topical images. Applicants were then given the opportunity to speak to one of our current Sociology students and ask questions.

Forensic Science and Forensic Investigation applicants were suited in protective clothing and had practical experience of crime scene processing and evidence analysis – at our crime scene house and labs.

Our next Offer Holder Day will take place on Wednesday 14th March. Find out more on our website.

2017 Highlights from the Analytical Lab

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Simon Cooper and Alison Davidson have been awarded £1146 by the Royal Society of Chemistry Research Fund for the “Evaluation of the use of MonoTrap sampling technology for the recovery and analysis of biological contaminants in water supplies”.

Professor John Cassella (left) and Dr Alison Davidson (right) with students, Richard Price and Abbie Renwick

The Burial Research Group led by Professor John Cassella has been going from strength-to-strength this year with great work from our undergraduates and interns. Ting Ting Chu who interned here last semester has won 2nd place for a Student Poster Prize at the recent BAHID conference.

The (student) Burial Research Group

Alison Davidson completed her PhD this year and graduated in July; she has co-authored three papers which have been submitted to journals. Simon Cooper is now starting his PhD and Alison Davidson and John Cassella are co-supervising him.

Dr Alison Davidson at Graduation in July

Tuesday 19th December saw our first, live Chemistry Christmas Cracker Event hosted by Dr Jodie Dunnett and Dr Alison Davidson.

Alison and Jodie

Jodie, Course Leader for Chemistry, demonstrated ‘Making Silver Nitrate Baubles’, ‘Colouring Christmas Baubles using Poinsettia Colour Indicator’ and ‘Making Fake Snow’.

Dr Jodie Dunnett with her Chemistree

Alison, our Technical Skills Specialist, showed us some specialised analytical chemistry equipment, investigated the ‘Smell of Christmas Trees’ and ‘A Toxic Victorian Christmas’.

Dr Alison Davidson investigating ‘A Toxic Vicorian Christmas’

If you missed the live event, you can still watch the video on Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

Join in The Conversation: Taxing Plastic Takeaway Boxes

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“This week, the UK Government will discuss the possibility of introducing taxes on single-use plastic items”. Associate Professor, Dr Claire Gwinnett has written a piece for The Conversation, detailing why she believes we should ‘Tax Plastic Takeaway Boxes‘.

 

Join in The Conversation

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Keep up-to-date with current academic and research news with Staffordshire University’s Law, Policing and Forensics topical contributions to The Conversation 

Aidan Flynn

Aidan Flynn, Lecturer in Law at Staffordshire University has contributed an article in The Conversation, titled ‘How the authorities can prosecute IS fighters who return to Britain – explained’. Read the full article here.

 

 

 

Professor James Treadwell

James Treadwell, a Professor in Criminology here at Staffordshire University, discusses the issue of ‘Why So Many Young British Men are Choosing to Carry Knives’, on The Conversation. 

 

 

 

 

‘How the idea of ‘modern slavery’ is used as political click bait‘ is an article Elizabeth A Faulkner, Lecturer in Law, has written for The Conversation.