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Asked by frenchy to Jamie, Jodie, Kat, Mark, Niamh on 14 Mar 2011 in Categories: Scientist.
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Jamie Pringle answered on 12 Mar 2011:
As a forensic geophysicist, I use high tech equipment to survey suspected crime scene sites, in order to work out where the target object(s) might be and where forensic teams shoudl do further investigations.
I also advise search teams which kit might work best to find items – so, for example, a magnetic survey might be best to find a buried knife in a field, but it would be useless to try and find a knife in a scrapyard, as there is too much other metal in there.
The rest of the time I mostly teach undergraduates and postgraduates at University about geophysics, geoscience and other related subjects, so that they gain some understanding and perhaps some may go on to jobs in this area.
Any spare time I have left I write some research articles to say what I did to others in my field and give guest talks, demonstrations and spread the word to people like you guys!
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Katherine Davies answered on 12 Mar 2011:
Hi
Hi
The main aim of my work is to find better methods for estimating the age of insects, which will ultimately result in more accurate time-since-death estimates for criminal cases. At present, some evidence is not able to be used in court, as scientists dont have the methods for using it properly. If we can use the insect evidence better, we can use it to strengthen a case, ultimately improving the justice system.
There are more details on my profile 🙂
Kat
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Mark Hill answered on 13 Mar 2011:
Hello,
I am a police traffic officer who has specialised in collision investigation. I am called by other traffic officers to fatal and serious injury crashes, to undertake a full investigation, to try and find the cause(s).
I then prepare a report of my investigation and findings, which I give in evidence at court, or inquest. We are classed as ‘experts’ in the eyes of the court, but although I am a police officer, I am not the expert for the police or prosecution side. I am there for the whole court – the defendant, prosecutor, judge and jury. I am there to not only give evidence of the collision scene, but also to give opinion in my field of expertise. This can involve mechanical, mathematical, physical, forensic and driver psychology based aspects of the collision.
In reality, I go to the scene, examine the locus, mark, photograph, electronically survey and collect evidence. I go to post-mortems, so that I can try and work out how people came by their injuries.
I may conduct skid testing, to work out vehicle and pedestrian speeds, bulb filament examination, mechanical reconstruction – putting the vehicles back together, to show their positions when they collided, or researching scientific papers and writing reports.
Really, I look at anything that may have been a factor in the collision, from road surfaces, to injuries, distraction (e.g. mobile phones, or stereos),car design and condition, weather, and so on. It is important, as a so-called expert, to know where my expertise ends and where I need a better expert to give me more information.
In doing all of the above, that is what makes my job so interesting to me – using science to work out what happened.
Thank you for your question.
Mark.
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Niamh Nic Daeid answered on 14 Mar 2011:
My work is very varied. I spend some of my time (like today) teaching and running laboratories for students who are learning about forensic science. I’ll spend part of the day marking essays and things like that and I have some case work that I need to do later as well.
In general I get involved in investigating things like fires or explosions, or how drugs are made and where they may come from and other practical problems related to crime investigation. I also use mathematics to help work out what data from experiments means and how it can be used effectively. I look after and work with a group of 10 researchers. Some look at illegal drugs, mainly amphetamine and heroin, to try and work out ways of linking drug samples to each other. Others do work on explosives and fires to work out new ways of detection and some of the other researchers look at new ways of making footwear marks visible on fabrics. N
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Jodie Dunnett answered on 14 Mar 2011:
As a lecturer you would think that most of my time is spent lecturing but in actual fact it is all the other things that take the time – lecturer preparation and marking are just some of the things that go on “behind the scenes”. I am also the admissions tutor for my department so answer queries that prospective students have about the courses and also have to look through the UCAS formsd and decide who we offer places to.
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