Amoret Whitaker

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 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[8] 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,[9] in 2017 she appeared on The Infinite Monkey Cage's episode about insects.[10] She was the Verrall Lecturer for the Royal Entomological Society in 2018, speaking on Fabulous Fleas.[11] [12] She appeared as part of a team for Reading University in the Christmas University Challenge 2020

References
  1. 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. "Meet the superheroes of science - science-in-society - 22 October 2009". www.newscientist.com. New Scientist. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  9. "The Life Scientific: Amoret Whitaker". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC. 8 January 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  10. "Series 16, Episode 6, Will insects inherit the earth?". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC. 25 July 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  11. "2018 Verrall Lecture: Fabulous Fleas by Amoret Whitaker" (PDF). www.royensoc.co.uk. Royal Entomological Society. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
  12. "2018 Verrall Lecturer". royensoc.co.uk. Royal Entomological Society. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
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