Staffordshire University is one of the leading modern universities in the UK, and is at the forefront of developments in higher education. It caters for around 16,000 students, mostly at its two main campuses at Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent.

Forensic science at Staffordshire University is based at the Stoke-on-Trent campus, which is the universities largest campus catering for around 11,000 students. The campus is served by six halls of residence, indoor and outdoor sports facilities, two university libraries, extensive information technology provision, two student union venues and a film theatre. In addition there are excellent student support facilities, including a travel shop, bookshop, chaplaincy, healthcare and medical services, counselling services, a careers office, creche, and disabled student support services.

Stoke-on-Trent is a relaxed and friendly place to live, both on and off campus, and offers the best of the city and the countryside. It is an inexpensive place to live and learn, and its central location in the heart of England means it has excellent road, air and rail links.
 

The School of Sciences

The School of Sciences is one of nine schools within the university. It is based in the Mellor Building on the Stoke-on-Trent campus, and incorporates forensic science, along with biology, chemistry, environmental science, geography, geology and psychology. Some elements of our forensic science degree courses are taught by staff from other schools, namely the Law School and the School of Humanities and Social Science. However all are located within a few minutes walk of each other and all classes are taught on the Stoke campus.
 

Laboratory Facilities

Forensic science is a hands-on practical subject, hence good laboratory facilities are of paramount importance to the teaching and learning of forensic science. The facilities in our forensic science teaching laboratories are second to none in the university sector. Techniques for forensic examination can be broadly classified as either chemical, for example drugs or poisons analysis, biological, for example blood-typing or DNA profiling, or criminalistic, a broad term which encompasses areas as diverse as document examination and fire debris examination. Our forensic science laboratories are organised into these three areas, as are most commercial and public forensic services.

The university has recently invested heavily in laboratory facilities for forensic science. This has included the complete refurbishment of existing chemistry and biology teaching laboratories, the creation of new laboratories, and the purchase of new equipment.The continuing expansion of student numbers enables us to continue this investment.

The new forensic laboratories were officially opened on November 22nd 2001 by Mr John Giffard, the Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police. The opening ceremony was attended by the university's Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Dr Susan O'Brien, and guests from local schools, the fire service, police forces, the Forensic Science Service, and other forensic science-related organisations.

Our chemical analysis laboratory suite is a modern, spacious, well-lit and safe laboratory which houses the equipment used for chemical-based forensic investigation. This includes gas and liquid chromatography, and GC-MS, for the analysis of ilicit drugs and fire accelerants for example, visible and infrared spectroscopy for the examination of materials such as paints and textile fibres, and atomic spectroscopy for the analysis of gunshot residues for example. Adjacent to this laboratory are three forensic chemistry laboratories. These laboratories comprise two large teaching laboratories and a smaller, dedicated undergraduate project laboratory.

Our criminalistics laboratory provides facilities for the examination of fingerprints, documents, marks and impressions, glass and fibres, etc, is now fully operational. This follows a major investment in new equipment including a fingerprint digitiser, visual scanning comparator and electrostatic document analyser, primarily for document examination, a fluoroscope for examination of fingerprints and other impressions, and a forensic Raman microscope and FTIR-microscope for examining documents, textile fibres, etc.

Our four biology teaching laboratories are well-equipted with essential materials and equipment for the practical study of biological systems at degree level. This includes general biological equipment, such as centrifuges, spectrophotometers and laminar flow cabinets, and more specialised equipment for forensic biology, including facilities for blood-typing and DNA profiling. The nearby biology postgraduate laboratory is also used to support final year undergraduate projects.

All of our teaching and research laboratories are supported by highly experienced and well qualified technical staff.
 

Other Learning Resources

Staffordshire University has been investing heavily in a new initiative called Building A Learning Community (BLC), which places emphasis on facilitating independent learning using a wide range of teaching and learning methods. This means that in addition to the more traditional teaching methods, such as "conventional" lectures and tutorials, students experience a range of new and innovative teaching and learning methods, such as team-teaching, computer-aided learning, and distributed learning. In particular the university has invested in various systems of distributed learning, including Blackboard, Lotus Learning Space (LLS) and Creation Of Study Environments (COSE), whereby course material is delivered electronically via a web server.

All students are provided with e-mail accounts and internet access, via the numerous IT rooms located around the campuses. In particular the School of Sciences has its own dedicated Sciences IT Suite facilities, which comprises six purpose-built, open-access computer laboratories spread over two floors of the Mellor building. The facilities have around 140 PCs, all of which use Windows XP and are networked to our own Windows 2000 server. All PCs have general software, including Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer and Netscape for internet access, Execmail for e-mail access, software for LLS, COSE and Blackboard access, and all are also equiped with around 70-80 pieces of specialist scientific software, including CAL packages, to support learning in all Science subject areas. Specialist hardware, including laser printers, colour laser printer, colour plotter, digital camera, flatbed scanner and graphics digitising table is also available, and the suite is maintained by experienced support staff at all times.

Adjacent to the Sciences IT Suite is the Sciences Learning Resources Centre, which is a purpose-built resources and study area, and an important part of our BLC strategy. The centre has a help desk, and is well stocked with learning resources that provide essential support or background information for particular science modules and courses. These include photocopied articles, maps, videos and CD-ROMs.
 
 

The Teaching Team

The forensic science teaching team has many years of experience and research expertise in chemistry, biology, analytical science, forensic science, social science, psychology, criminology and law, and has also forged strong links with external forensic practitioners and organisations.

Equally important is our friendly and approachable outlook. This is highly valued by our students, who invariably make very positive and complimentary remarks about us when asked by external assessors to comment on their experiences here. Our students benefit greatly from a relaxed and informal, yet focussed and stimulating, study environment.

Forensic science is a multidisciplinary subject, hence staff from chemistry, biology, psychology, sociology and law teach on our forensic science courses. External colleagues from other organisations, for example the Forensic Science Service and the police force, provide additional teaching support at key stages of the study programme, particularly in the final year in the form of guest lectures and seminars.

Two of the above subject areas; biology and psychology, have recently been subjected to rigorous subject reviews by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. The review embraces all aspects of teaching and learning activities, and includes direct observation of classroom activities, assessment of the staff, curriculum and resources, student support and guidance, student's work and achievements, and methods of reviewing student's work. Both biology and psychology were awarded the prestigious “excellent” status, each scoring 23 out of a maximum of 24 points.
 
 

Teaching Staff Profiles

Dr Sue Bird,  BSc Hons, PhD, PGCE,    01782-294408,  s.j.bird@staffs.ac.uk

Sue is a lecturer who contributes to the teaching of biological skills development and biochemistry.
 

Dr David Clark-Carter,  BSc, MEd, PhD, AFBPsS, CPsychol,    01782-294515, d.clark-carter@staffs.ac.uk

David is a reader in psychology, and his main teaching area is research methods.

His main research interest is the use made by psychologists of research methods.  He is also looking at the psychological consquences of chronic pain, coping strategies in post traumatic stress disorders, and psychological aspects of second language learning.
 

Ms Judy David,  BSc Hons,    01782-294544,   j.j.david@staffs.ac.uk

Judy is a senior lecturer and the Award Leader for BSc Hons Psychology and Criminology. She specialises in the teaching of organisational and criminological psychology, and aspects of social psychology.

Her current research is concerned with entrepreneurial attitudes in Russia.
 

Mr David Flatman-Fairs,  BSc Hons,  MRSC,  01782-294609,  d.p.flatman-fairs@staffs.ac.uk

David is a recently recruited lecturer in forensic science. He has spent considerable time training and working with crime scene investigators both in the UK and USA, and is principally concerned with teaching crime scene investigation.
 

Dr Graham Harrison,  BSc, PhD, CChem, FRSC,    01782-294576,  g.harrison@staffs.ac.uk

Graham is the Head of Chemistry and Forensic Science and a principal lecturer specialising in analytical chemistry and environmental chemistry. He is also the Award Leader for the forensic science degree courses.

He has a strong research record, mainly in the environmental area, and has attracted external financial support from the European Union and the Research Councils. His main research interest in the forensics area is the development of alternative analytical methods in forensic science. He and Dr Mark Tonge are currently supervising a PhD student in the area of environmental forensics investigating analytical approaches for identifying the sources of oil pollution on land and water.
 

Dr Andrew Jackson,  BSc Hons, PhD, PGCE,    01782-294579,  a.r.jackson@staffs.ac.uk

Andrew is a senior lecturer and teaches aspects of crime scene investigation, criminalistic and chemical aspects of forensic analysis, environmental science, inorganic and analytical chemistry.

His research work includes the development of techniques for the identification of the components of cements, and he has written undergraduate textbooks, including a new forensic science text due to be published in late 2003.
 

Dr Stephen Merry,  BA Hons, PhD,    01782-294692,  s.merry@staffs.ac.uk

Stephen is a senior lecturer who contributes to the teaching of forensic biology.

His main expertise is in cell and tissue biology. His research interests include the use of cell culture for the development of improved treatments for cancer, and the investigation of immune mechanisms in invertebrtates.
 

Dr Harry Mountain,  BSc Hons, MSc, PhD, PGCE,    01782-294702,  h.a.mountain@staffs.ac.uk

Harry is a senior lecturer who contributes to the teaching of forensic biology, genetics, biochemistry and molecular biology.
 

Dr Andy Platt,   BSc Hons, PhD, CChem, MRSC,    01782-294784,  a.platt@staffs.ac.uk

Andy is a senior lecturer and teaches aspects of forensic document examination, basic chemistry. He is also the module co-ordinator for the year-two optional module "forensic histories".

His research interests include developing spectroscopic instrumental techniques for forensic analysis, including infrared and Raman spectroscopy, multinuclear nmr spectroscopy and electrospray mass spectrometry.  He also has research interests in the production of environmentally benign catalytic compounds, and new anti-tumor compounds.
 

Dr Kevin Reiling,   BSc Hons, DPhil, PGCHE, PGCOET,   01782-294746,  k.reiling@staffs.ac.uk

Kevin is a senior lecturer and teaches aspects of forensic genetics, toxicology and physiology.

His research interests include the environmental impact of pollutants, and he is currently supervising research projects involving “heavy metals” and oxidant pollution.  Educational research includes published material on the understanding of criteria between staff and students.
 

Dr David Skingsley, BSc Hons, PhD, DPhil, FRES,    01782-295757,  d.r.skingsley@staffs.ac.uk

David is a senior lecturer and teaches aspects of human biology, neurobiology, neuropharmacology, physiology and forensic toxicology.

His research interests include the study of mucus, molluscan biology, and cranefly biology and conservation.
 

Dr Mark Tonge,  BSc Hons, PhD, CChem, MRSC,    01782-294609,  m.d.tonge@staffs.ac.uk

Mark is a senior lecturer and teaches aspects of general forensic science, crime scene investigation, analytical chemistry, environmental science and drugs of abuse.

His research interests include the analysis of drugs of abuse, foods and pharmaceuticals, trace element speciation, chromatographic and atomic spectroscopic methods of analysis. He and Dr Graham Harrison are currently supervising a PhD student in the area of environmental forensics investigating analytical approaches for identifying the sources of oil pollution on land and water.
 

Ms Ruth Waterhouse,    01782-294652,  r.l.waterhouse@staffs.ac.uk

Ruth is a senior lecturer and teaches aspects of crime and deviance, feminism and helping skills.

Her main research interests are also in the areas of feminism and helping skills.
 

Dr John Wheeler,  BSc Hons, PhD, CChem, MRSC, CBA,    01782-294690, j.w.wheeler@staffs.ac.uk

John is a senior lecturer and teaches organic synthesis, organic and general chemistry, spectroscopic analytical techniques, and aspects of food science and forensic science.  He is also developing electronic student-centred learning packages for the delivery and support of course materials.

His research interests include the design and synthesis of novel polymeric materials, fire retardancy of plastics and the extraction of toxic metal species using host-guest molecular architectures.
 

Mr Jim Zacune,   BA, MSc,    01782-294716,  j.zacune@staffs.ac.uk

Jim is a principal lecturer and the co-ordinater for all undergraduate courses in psychology. He teaches in the areas of counselling psychology and social psychology.

His research interests include career destinations of undergraduates and mature students in higher education.