Amoret Whitaker | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Reading University |
| Occupation | Forensic entomologist |
| Employer | University of Winchester |
| Website | www |
Amoret Whitaker is a forensic entomologist in the UK. [1]
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]
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]
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