President Elect of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences

Categories News & Updates, Science & Justice

Back in the day when I was a fresh-faced PhD student at Sheffield, I had written a paper on research ethics in forensic anthropology. It was an off-shoot of my PhD work, and I felt it was an important piece to write. It was my first paper. I nervously submitted it to Medicine, Science and the Law since they had published work in the field of ethics before. They rejected the paper before it even got to peer review. I was gutted, and vowed never…Continue Reading “President Elect of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences” →

Time flies…

Categories HE Sector, Learning & Teaching, News & Updates, Outreach

There’s a well-used trope in sitcoms, in which the protagonist manages to arrange an evening where they go on two dates at the same time! Hilarity and humiliation always ensue. Well, that was basically me last Friday. I had been asked by two sets of conference organisers if I’d give a Keynote talk. It’s always very flattering to be asked, and I am very supportive of the academics who were working on both events, so I agreed. Besides, I thought, there’s six-day window for these…Continue Reading “Time flies…” →

What is the digital space..?

Categories HE Sector, Learning & Teaching, News & Updates, Research

Last week I was over at our National Horizons Centre meeting with Dr Jen Vanderhoven and Prof Vikki Rand, our Director and our Bioscience Research Centre lead. We were talking around various topics, including what to focus our efforts on over the next year. I keep saying that the School of Health & Life Sciences is really complex, and with good reason. It’s really complex. For a start, we’re spread over two campuses which means that we need to make an extra effort to ensure…Continue Reading “What is the digital space..?” →

Oh no – not another year in review piece…

Categories News & Updates, Publication

Look. I don’t want to do this. You don’t want me to do this. But we have no choice. It’s the New Year, and as such I am compelled to write some sort of ‘year in review’ type reflective piece. Especially since the year in question is 2020 and has been so, well, you know… So let’s just get on with it, shall we? This was my second full year in the Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine hot-seat. I started as Editor-in-Chief in Jan…Continue Reading “Oh no – not another year in review piece…” →

BREAKING NEWS: Only I could make a 2000 year old volcanic eruption all about me…

Categories News & Updates, Research

Now I’ve done a fair bit of media work in the past (Shock! Academic known for being a bit of a show-off has history of being a bit of a show-off…) but nothing to the intensity of this past week. Our paper reinterpreting the context of death for victims of Vesuvius at Herculaneum has finally come out in the journal Antiquity. To be honest, this paper should have been out a year ago but it’s been a bit of a battle to get it finished….Continue Reading “BREAKING NEWS: Only I could make a 2000 year old volcanic eruption all about me…” →

Parting is such sweet sorrow…

Categories HE Sector, Learning & Teaching, News & Updates

Well, it’s official. Tim Thompson has left the building. And entered another one. 100 metres away. On the same campus. This seemed more dramatic when I started… As some of you may know, the School of Science, Engineering and Design is no more. We’ve had a bit of a restructure here at Teesside, and the School that was once my home has been split into its three component parts and spread across the rest of the Institution. Engineering heads over to the new School of…Continue Reading “Parting is such sweet sorrow…” →

House of Lords Science & Technology Committee – Inquiry into Forensic Science

Categories Field Work, HE Sector, Learning & Teaching, News & Updates, Research

So, I almost knocked over both Emily Thornberry and Floella Benjamin in one day… Forensic science is in a challenging place at the moment. The well-publicised closure of the national Forensic Science Service and the rapid marketisation of forensic provision has left the sector a little winded. Combined with the complexity of contracting out forensic services, the increasing demands associated with ISO accreditation, the budgetary cuts, the fragmentation of research and so on, it is little wonder that the criminal justice system and the public…Continue Reading “House of Lords Science & Technology Committee – Inquiry into Forensic Science” →

“I can and I will” – Graduation 2017!

Categories Learning & Teaching, News & Updates

The biggest event this week is not the start of Season 7 of Game of Thrones, it’s not the discussion of the new Avengers Infinity War teaser, it’s not even the announcement of a female Doctor Who (which, by the way, has generated a staggering amount of whining). No, the biggest, most hotly anticipated event this week is graduation! As I’ve said before, graduation is my favourite part of the academic cycle. It’s a moment of celebration and pride and a chance to reflect upon…Continue Reading ““I can and I will” – Graduation 2017!” →

Associate Dean

Categories News & Updates

Well, it’s been four months since I made the move to, what I’ve since been told, is the dark side… I call it senior management, but apparently this is the same thing. Mind you, if it means I get access to a giant space-based laser weapon of unimaginable power, then I’m all for it… If you hadn’t heard, I applied for and was offered the post of Associated Dean (Learning & Teaching) in the School – and it’s something that I’m very excited about. I…Continue Reading “Associate Dean” →

Festival of Learning

Categories News & Updates, PGR

I was delighted to be asked to be a Keynote speaker on the opening day of Teesside University’s 2016 Festival of Learning – a week long event exploring different aspects to teaching and learning. My talk was on the interplay between teaching and research, and I decided to use my group’s excellent work in both areas to highlight the benefits of using research as a hook for teaching. I’ll get the full text up online soon, but it was wonderful to get such positive feedback…Continue Reading “Festival of Learning” →