Amoret Whitaker

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Amoret Whitaker
Alma mater Reading University
Occupation Forensic entomologist
Employer University of Winchester
Amoret Whitaker's voice
Recorded January 2013 from the BBC Radio 4 programme The Life Scientific
Website www.winchester.ac.uk/academicdepartments/applied-social-sciences/PeopleProfiles/Pages/DrAmoretWhitaker.aspx

Amoret Whitaker is a forensic entomologist in the UK. [1]

Contents

Education

She studied a BSc in zoology at Reading University, [2] a masters of taxonomy and biodiversity at Imperial College London and the Natural History Museum, London and a PhD in forensic entomology at King's College London. [1]

Career and research

Amoret's early research was into fleas, which are her favourite insects. [3] She wrote the Fleas (Siphonaptera) volume of the Handbooks for the identification of British Insects, [4] published in 2007 by the Royal Entomological Society [5] and is currently writing Flea for the Reaktion Books Animal series. [1]

She moved in forensic entomology and regularly carries out casework with police forces in the UK [6] using insect evidence to determine the post mortem interval of a body. The first case she worked on was the Murder of Shafilea Ahmed. [7]

Her research looks at the development and behaviour of blowflies [8] and beetles under different environmental conditions, she is based at the Natural History Museum in London where she is a Scientific Associate, at the body farm in Tennessee [9] and at the University of Winchester where she is a senior lecturer in forensic studies. [1]

Media and public appearances

In 2013 she was interviewed by Jim Al-Khalili on the BBC's The Life Scientific programme, [10] in 2017 she appeared on The Infinite Monkey Cage's episode about insects. [11] She was the Verrall Lecturer for the Royal Entomological Society in 2018, speaking on Fabulous Fleas. [12] [13] She appeared as part of a team for Reading University in the Christmas University Challenge 2020

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Whitaker, Amoret. "Academic Homepage". www.winchester.ac.uk. University of Winchester. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  2. ↑ "The real-life CSI scientist". www.mirror.co.uk. 19 January 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  3. ↑ "Twelve reasons why insects rule". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  4. ↑ "Amoret Whitaker, forensic entomologist". valentinaproject.com. The Valentina Project. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  5. ↑ "RES Handbooks for the identification of British Insects. Volume 1 part 16 (2nd edition)". royensoc.co.uk. The Royal Entomological Society. 23 February 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  6. ↑ "Six of the most extreme jobs in science". www.sciencefocus.com. BBC Science Focus Magazine. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  7. ↑ "How a love of whodunit mysteries has paved the way for forensic entomology". www.wired.co.uk. Wired. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  8. ↑ Segalov, Michael (12 December 2021). "Body of evidence: meet the experts working in crime scene forensics". the Guardian. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  9. ↑ "Meet the superheroes of science - science-in-society - 22 October 2009". www.newscientist.com. New Scientist. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  10. ↑ "The Life Scientific: Amoret Whitaker". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  11. ↑ "Series 16, Episode 6, Will insects inherit the earth?". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  12. ↑ "2018 Verrall Lecture: Fabulous Fleas by Amoret Whitaker" (PDF). www.royensoc.co.uk. Royal Entomological Society. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  13. ↑ "2018 Verrall Lecturer". royensoc.co.uk. Royal Entomological Society. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
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