Amoret Whitaker

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

• University of Winchester profile
• European Association of Forensic Entomology Curriculum Vitae