Dr Sarah Fieldhouse

Society Position: Editor of Fingerprint Whorld, the journal of the Fingerprint Division of The Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences
Qualifications/Postnominals: PhD, BSc (Hons), PGCHPE, PGCRM, FHEA, MFS
Current Employment: Lecturer, Forensic and Crime Science Department, Staffordshire University 

Professional Background

I graduated from Staffordshire University with a first class honours degree in Forensic Science and Criminology in 2003.  I continued my education at the University, obtaining a PhD in 2009 for research which examined consistency and reproducibility of fingermark deposition and quality assessment, and ‘in situ’ fingermark development using Cyanoacrylate fuming.  Within my academic role I deliver tuition and supervise research in the areas of fingermarks and data analysis, but I also have Faculty level roles with the ethics board and the research degrees committee.  I have worked with the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences to achieve accreditation of five of the University’s BSc, MSci and MSc awards.  Aside from Forensic Science, I am very interested in advancing the careers of women in STEM subjects, and therefore have an active role in the University’s membership to Athena SWAN. 

In terms of research, I have a keen interest and considerable experience of fingermark development and identification methodologies, and have been fortunate to have published and presented my work nationally and internationally.  I have continued to examine deposition methodologies, which has led to the production of a commercial product for fingermark deposition, and the production of a proficiency test for fingermark quality assessment.  I supervise several PhD students, who are investigating the interaction between iron oxide wet powder suspension and powders with fingermark residue, and the use of 360° photography for crime scene documentation.  I am currently involved in the development of software capable of facilitating the documentation of fingermark examinations, which is one of several successful collaborative projects between industry and academia that I am part of.   I am extremely keen to facilitate further collaborative practice with external partners.

I have been a member of the Fingerprint Society since 2009, and a committee member since 2015.  I took over the editorial role of Fingerprint Whorld in January 2016.