Christmas Lectures 2022: Lecture 1/3 – Forensic science with Sue Black

Discover the secrets of forensic science as Professor Dame Sue Black tells the story of a 1,000 year old skeleton, in the first of the Royal Institution's annual Christmas lectures for 2022.

Professor Dame Sue Black DBE is a forensic anthropologist, anatomist and academic and is currently the President of St John’s College Oxford, and Visiting Professor of Computing and Communications at Lancaster University, having previously been Pro-Vice Chancellor at Lancaster University.

She attended the University of Aberdeen where she graduated with a BSc degree with honours in human anatomy in 1982, and a PhD degree for her thesis on 'Identification from the Human Skeleton' in 1986.

Having been a lecturer in Anatomy at St Thomas' Hospital between 1987 and 1992, Sue then spent a decade working for the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the United Nations, on the identification of victims and perpetrators of various conflicts. In 1999 she became the lead forensic anthropologist to the British Forensic Team in Kosovo and in 2003 she undertook two tours to Iraq. In 2005 Sue participated in the United Kingdom's contribution to the Thai Tsunami Victim Identification operation as part of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami international response.

Sue has been an innovator in developing techniques and building databases to confirm or disconfirm someone's identify identity based on photographs of their hands or arms. This technique has become important in prosecution cases where the accused have taken photographs of their actions. In 2009, Sue used vein pattern analysis to confirm the identify of a suspect; the first time that the technique was used in a criminal conviction.

As an author, Sue has published numerous works including her latest book, ‘Written in bone: Hidden stories in what we leave behind’. She was a founder of The British Association for Human Identification and The British Association for Forensic Anthropology; has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, The Royal Anthropological Institute and The British Academy; and is life-time Professor of Anatomy for the Royal Scottish Academy.

Sue is married with three children and features in a larger-than-life portrait by Ken Currie titled Unknown Man which hangs in the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, while crime writer Val McDermid used Sue as inspiration for a character in her book ‘The skeleton road’.

--

We are very grateful to UKRI, Agilent Technologies and Horiba UK, for their generous support for the Ri to produce the 2022 CHRISTMAS LECTURES.

A very special thank you to our Patreon supporters who help make these videos happen, especially:

modsiw, Anton Ragin, Edward Unthank, Robert L Winer, Andy Carpenter, William Hudson
--

Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.

[DocSeville]

THIS!
This kind of presentation should be the BULK of what high school students receive. They need to be exposed to what jobs are out there.
Well done!

[harryshouse]

Having met Dame Sue on more than one occasion, I can confirm, apart from being an awe inspiring scientist, she is simply a lovely lady too.

[TheSimMan]

I could listen to her talk about history and life all day, so fascinating 👍

[shelleyblack]

This was incredible! Thought I would only watch a little bit of the bus but Sue Black is a force!!! I was compelled to watch the whole thing! Sue you are incredible!!! 🙌🙌🙌

[peterscrafton]

This lady is a splendid teacher as well as being an outstanding practitioner of her arts. It is also good to see her together with two members of her old crew from Dundee University

[jackjoyce]

I wish college lectures can be like this. so fun, easy to learn, very interactive, and super friendly and engaging!

[rachelmorris]

Fantastic stuff! Great to see the attendees so engaged and who wouldn't be watching that. As someone who is largely Scandinavian, this was extra special!

[DrEdwardTsang]

Thank you for producing this excellent lecture! I’ve learned a lot from it. I like Professor Sue Black’s enthusiasm. Her guests add a lot to the lecture. This is one of the best Christmas lectures that I have watched.

[lilianapapp]

Im happy to see how normal and intelligent these kids are. First I thought this film is from the beginning of the 2000's.

[vidyalankargharpure]

Fantastic presentation! Incredible contents! Fascinating even more than a detective movie! Thanks to the Ri.

[martinalewis]

I wish they would have taught us Anatomy like that in HS. Much more fun

[Woooofit]

awesome awesome presentation. I wish I could have sit under you guidance

[pcaridad]

Incredible and very enlighten lecture. I should say that the face bones are missing, so it's not very likely to do a reconstruction of the face so accurately. Anyway, fantastic ❤❤❤❤

[ventsislav]

Come on Lady, you're amazing! I'd like to work with you! Is it possible? If it is, I'll send you details about myself. Meanwhile, I'm a doctor and used to study Anatomy many years ago.

[hithwentinuviel]

Great show, however they are emu eggs not ostrich eggs which are white

[lauraw.]

Was the ostrich egg painted green or is it an emu egg?

[emjai]

Hate to be the one to say this but…. All humans are animals. We are mammals.

[voidisyinyangvoidisyinyang]

wait they all had a mirror placed at each chair? weird

[SemUwU]

9:37 is that an alien on the right with hoodie?

[peturkjartansson]

Whas there any indication that this young Viking was a Christian? You just established that he was most likely killed because he was a Dane. Why then did you give him a Bible name? He should have a Nordic name, pre Christianity, like Finnur (found).