Amoret Whitaker
The Life Scientific
BBC
4.6 • 1.4K Ratings
🗓️ 8 January 2013
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Jim Al-Khalili talks to Amoret Whitaker, an entomologist at the Natural History Museum in London. Her intricate understanding of the life cycles of the flies, beetles and the other insects' which feed on decomposing bodies means she is regularly called by the Police to the scene of a crime or a murder investigation. There she collects and analyses any insect evidence to help them pin point the most likely time of death. In some instances, this can be accurate to within hours.
She is just one of only a handful of forensic entomologists working in the UK. She talks to Jim about her life as a research scientist, breeding flies in the far flung towers of the Natural History Museum and her work as a forensic expert with police services across the country. Dropping her work at a moment's notice she can be called any time of day to anywhere in the country to attend a crime scene. She also talks about her regular trips to a research facility at the 'Body Farm' at the University of Tennesee in Knoxville in Ameria to get a better understanding of how real human bodies decompose.
Her passion is insects and while our instinctive reaction to flies and maggots may be one of revulsion - when you take time look at them properly, and in detail, she says you can see what truly incredible creatures they are.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Once you've wrapped up this podcast, how about trying a very British cult? |
| 0:06.0 | What happens if the person you trust with your future isn't what you think they are? |
| 0:10.0 | I did feel the whole time he was watching me Yeti. I saw a footprint and that really gave me gusmas. |
| 0:16.4 | Or people who knew me. Emme, I remember every secret, every lie. I'm the only one who knows the truth. |
| 0:23.0 | Discover more of our biggest podcast from 2003. |
| 0:27.0 | Listen on BBC Sounds. |
| 0:29.0 | Thank you for downloading The Life Scientific from BBC Radio 4. |
| 0:34.0 | My guest today is a scuba diver, allotment enthusiast and keen biker. |
| 0:40.0 | And her passion for her science has led her to naming her motor bike, Hister, after the shiny black |
| 0:47.0 | predatory beetle that feeds on the fly larvae found on decomposing bodies, and is just one of the many insects that can be |
| 0:55.1 | crucial in the science of forensic entomology using our understanding of |
| 1:00.3 | insects to help solve crimes. |
| 1:03.0 | Amaret Whitaker is a rare breed herself, |
| 1:06.0 | one of only three primary forensic entomologist working across the UK. |
| 1:10.0 | Based at the Natural History Museum, |
| 1:12.0 | her passion is, first and foremost, the insects themselves. |
| 1:17.0 | While our instinctive reaction to flies and maggots may be one of revulsion, |
| 1:22.0 | when you take time to look at them properly in detail |
| 1:25.4 | she says you can see what truly incredible creatures they are |
| 1:30.0 | am right wittaker welcome to the Life Scientific. Thank you. |
| 1:33.0 | Amorate, before we get started, tell me about Hister. |
| 1:37.0 | Hister is my motorbike. She's a Yamaha YBR 125. |
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