Yet another discussion on forensic science education…

Categories HE Sector, Learning & Teaching

Wow – I am poor at keeping these posts updated. I can only assume that you are all hitting the refresh button every week only to be crushingly disappointed that nothing new appears. I can only apologise and point to how very busy I am. Case in point, this weekend I was both appointed as the new President of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences and invited to give a talk at the 3rd International 19th National Forensic Sciences Congress in Turkey on forensic science education…Continue Reading “Yet another discussion on forensic science education…” →

Biocultural Taphonomies: Teasing apart taphonomic filters in bioarchaeology

Categories PGR, Research

I never learn. Which is ironic considering the sector I work in. Whenever I get asked if I’d give a paper at a conference, I always think “Oh, that’s ages away, literally months away, I’m busy now but it’ll be fine by then…”. But it never is. Such was the case when I was asked by Sabrina Agarwal and Trent Trombley if I’d give a paper on burning at a special symposium of the American Academy of Biological Anthropology in March this year. Unfortunately I…Continue Reading “Biocultural Taphonomies: Teasing apart taphonomic filters in bioarchaeology” →

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…” →

#DigiDeath: Should we be Socially Distancing from the Dead?

Categories Outreach, Publication, Research

Last week I was invited to give one of the keynotes at the DigiDeath: Public archaeologies of digital mortality conference hosted by the students of the Archaeology department of the University of Chester. And as an aside for learning & teaching folks, the student-run conference forms part of their module assessment. Anyway, I was delighted to have been asked to contribute alongside a host of leading experts. I’d recently written a chapter with Dr Dave Errickson on the depiction of the dead in social media…Continue Reading “#DigiDeath: Should we be Socially Distancing from the Dead?” →

What are High-Impact teaching practices?

Categories HE Sector, Learning & Teaching

Just because it’s sunny here, doesn’t mean that I’m not working hard! At the start of this year’s AAFS, I attended a day-long workshop called High-Impact Practices in Forensic Science Education. It was Chaired by Gina Londino-Smolar and Dr Karen S. Scott and was supported by the Council of Forensic Science Educators.  The main aim was for attendees to: “learn how high-impact practices can be used in forensic science education and discover how to adapt their courses using common programing for students by: (1) identifying…Continue Reading “What are High-Impact teaching practices?” →

Choose your own adventures…

Categories Gamification, HE Sector, Learning & Teaching, Research

When my twelve year old called me a nerd recently, I pointed out that ‘nerd’ pays the bills. And then pointed out that he was an even bigger nerd than I was. And then we laughed, high-fived and went to do our respective homework because that’s how we roll. Clearly, he’s not wrong. And gaming is where he usually points this out to me. The resurgence of Dungeons and Dragons, the fact that Warhammer is now worth over £1 billion, and that tabletop gaming generally…Continue Reading “Choose your own adventures…” →

Lets get ready to CRUMBEL!

Categories Research

I don’t know if you realise this, but I’m a bit of a nerd. I hide it well, behind this cool exterior of senior management sophistication, but it’s there. Academically it focuses on studying people from their skeletons, and particularly their burned skeletons. I can remember exactly where my interest here began – in the library of the University of Bradford in the winter of 1998. I was in a dark corridor of shelving pouring over bound volumes of journals (now I’m really showing my…Continue Reading “Lets get ready to CRUMBEL!” →

Eat. Sleep. Mine. Repeat.

Categories Learning & Teaching

Everyone here knows that I like to play video games. I always have, and my transition from ugly duckling to beautiful swan can be mapped alongside my gaming platforms: Spectrum 48k and Spectrum 128k at school, Amiga and Atari Lynx II (if anyone remembers that…) at college, PlayStation 1 and PS2 at university, PlayStation 3 in my first academic posts and now the X Box One with my own boys. I’ve never been massively into playing on the PC – despite the fact that my…Continue Reading “Eat. Sleep. Mine. Repeat.” →

My name is Hercule Poirot and I am probably the greatest detective in the world…

Categories Learning & Teaching, Movies, PGR, Research

I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to see the recent Kenneth Branagh version of Murder on the Orient Express, but it’s very watchable. It’s got a great cast, it looks suitably opulent and has some nice lines in it. I’ve seen it twice now – once on my flight to Seattle for the AAFS in Feb, and then again this month at home. The nice thing about doing this is that you get to appreciate the film first as if in the dark,…Continue Reading “My name is Hercule Poirot and I am probably the greatest detective in the world…” →

I couldn’t think of a clever title for this post, so my son suggested “Bits and Bones” and actually that’s pretty spot on…

Categories Research

This weekend has seen over 100 osteology nerds descend onto the unsuspecting city of Liverpool for the 3-day British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology 2017 conference! BABAO runs an annual conference in September which roams around the country, settling at host universities too slow to take a step back when volunteers are asked for. This year it was Liverpool John Moores‘ turn. No bad thing, as Liverpool is a lively, fun city to visit and steeped in history. I guess, though, that this is…Continue Reading “I couldn’t think of a clever title for this post, so my son suggested “Bits and Bones” and actually that’s pretty spot on…” →