www.mddus.com
“The best part of the job is securing justice for victims"
forensically aware than in the past and at times managing their expectations is also difficult.
From left: Prof Sue Black, Dr Xanthe Mallett and Prof Caroline WIlkinson
How has the field of forensics changed in recent decades?
purposes, and you do not deviate from that goal. If you take on the enormity of the suffering and inhumanity that you witness, then you cannot remain objective and in so doing you do not serve justice, you do not serve the victims and you do not serve the survivors.
What do you find most rewarding about your job? The most rewarding element is in being able to identify a deceased person and return them to their families.
Describe a typical working week. There is no such thing as a typical week - fortunately. I have a short attention span and get bored very easily. So part of a day might be taken up with teaching undergraduate or postgraduate students, I might be talking with Interpol about DVI training, I might be liaising with a police force about the remains of a dead body that has been found, I might be working on some research with my PhD students - and of course there is always administration and paperwork.
How did you get involved in TV work? I don't know how I got involved but as anyone who knows me will tell you, it is not something that I enjoy. I don't enjoy the process and I certainly don't watch the end product.
Was it a challenge performing in front of the cameras for History Cold Case? It isn't really a challenge but as I said, I have a short attention span and so get bored very quickly. I don't do well at being directed to say or do something and certainly not more than once. The History Cold Case production crew were very patient with me. Conversely, I love doing radio and especially live radio. There is no retake and you get the opportunity to tell a story in words. I am much happier there.
How has the current popular interest in forensics – with the spate of TV dramas – affected what you do? Forensic awareness from the public affects us in a number of ways. A lot of students have unrealistic expectations of what studying will be like and some find it very challenging. Also our juries consider themselves to be more
The field has changed quite dramatically from an amateur approach to more professional requirements. For many years, forensic anthropology was seen as the back door into forensic work but that is no longer the case. Regulation and legislation are ensuring, quite rightly, that formal training is much more rigorous and being able to 'break into' the field is no longer a matter of chance but requires formal processes.
What is the secret to your success? You have to work hard and you have to work long hours and there must be no job that you are not prepared to do yourself. There is no room for an academic ego. There is no easy fix.
What do you do in your spare time? Quite seriously, I don't have any spare time. When our daughter was nine years old she asked us if we had ever been on holiday. Bit of a wake up call. We did go on holiday, but I got so bored that I wrote the guts of a text book. I have known my husband since we were in school together and he is also a qualified anatomist - although he changed career path to become a finance director. We have three daughters 27, 16 and 14 and two grandchildren aged two and 10 months. We live in the north east of Scotland and are ridiculously old fashioned parents.
Interview by Joanne Curran
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16