Postgraduate FOrensic Psychology and CriminOlogy Research Network
PoPCoRN
The Popcorn Team (left to right): Liam Ralph (ENU), Katy Proctor (Glasgow Caledonian), Karen Richmond (Strathclyde), Amy Humphrey (Dundee), Lee Curley (ENU), Claire Taylor (Abertay), and Rebecca Foster (Glasgow).
On the 26th of April 2016, I helped to organise the first Postgraduate Forensic Psychology and Criminology Research Network seminar series. I was also a co-founder of the event alongside Dr Kathy Charles, Dr Alex McIntyre, and Liam Ralph. The first seminar series was a huge success.
The day started off with myself talking about the decision making strategies of jurors within the Scottish legal system. I got a good response, and was asked some excellent questions. I am always surprised how much people are interested in the work I do, it really makes the long days slogging at statistics worth it. Once I had finished speaking, I was followed by Karen Richmond from the University of Strathclyde. She gave an excellent and insightful talk, which was titled “Maintaining the Standards of Forensic DNA Evidence: A Comparative Study”. Her talk was very thought provoking and interesting for a young decision making scientist such as myself. I really do recommend young academics to attend one of Karen’s talks.
Karen’s talk was followed by Claire Taylor from Abertay University. Claire’s talk was titled “Multiple missing: an exploration of behavioural consistency in repeat missing adults”. Amy Humphrey from the University of Dundee then continued the missing person presentations with a talk called “Network Geography in Missing Person Investigations”. Both these talks were very interesting. Before both Claire and Amy’s presentations, I did not know much about missing person research. However, after hearing them, I really want to find out more about their research, and look forward to their future talks. If any undergraduates at Edinburgh Napier are interested in missing person’s cases I strongly suggest you try to attend one of Claire or Amy’s talks.
Katy Proctor from Glasgow Caledonian University presented next, and her talk was titled “Stalking in Scotland – Investigating the Invisible”. Her research was very novel. I really enjoyed her talk, she coped with such a grim topic with enthusiasm and passion. Katy’s research was very interesting, and once again I do urge the undergraduates, and masters, students to attend her future talks. Rebecca Foster from the University of Glasgow followed Katy. Rebecca’s talk was titled “The Effects of Imprisonment on Families”. She finished the seminar series very well. She really did know her topic inside out, and answered questions amazingly. I was straight on google scholar trying to find out more about her area once she finished. I hope I can see Rebecca present again in the near future.
Overall, the day was a success, and Popcorn now has 12 representatives from a number of universities throughout Scotland. I genuinely hope this is the start of something big, and that potential collaborations of the mind can occur because of this research network. I also urge undergraduates, master’s students, and research students from other disciplines to set up similar research seminars and research networks. If nothing else, speaking about research you love to other people who are just as passionate is one of the best ways to spend an afternoon (also the pub afterwards is a plus).
If you are interested in joining the PoPCoRN Research Network, or for more information, please get in touch via the contact page, or email Popcorn.Scotland@gmail.com