Tim Thompson

T:

01642 342535

Job title:

Reader

E:

t.thompson@tees.ac.uk

School/department:

School of Science & Engineering

 

 

Research institute:

Technology Futures Institute

About Tim Thompson

Tim Thompson
Reader, School of Science & Engineering
T: 01642 342535
E: t.thompson@tees.ac.uk
Research institute: Technology Futures Institute

Tim Thompson is a Reader in Biological & Forensic Anthropology in the School of Science & Engineering.

Before coming to Teesside, Tim studied at the Universities of Bradford (Department of Archaeological Sciences) and Sheffield (Departments of Archaeology and Forensic Pathology) and was a Lecturer in Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee.

Tim has published in peer-reviewed journals and books on a range of subjects from osteology to anthropological educational frameworks, from the ethics of forensic anthropology to burned human remains. He was senior editor for the book, Forensic Human Identification.

Previously, he was Honorary Secretary of the British Association for Human Identification and is currently the Publicity Secretary for the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology. He is a practicing forensic anthropologist who has worked at home and abroad in a variety of forensic contexts.

Research interests

Generally Tim is interested in the human body and how it changes in the forensic context. Thus his main research interests include: heat-induced changes in bone; taphonomic changes due to aquatic environments; body modifications; improving methods of human identification, and; the interaction between the social and biological body and implications for human identity and identification.

Various projects are currently underway in all of these areas, involving leading researchers in a variety of UK and overseas academic institutions.

Enterprise interests

Tim acts as a consultant forensic anthropologist for the police, mainly in the North-East of England.

Tim is the Managing and Creative Director of anthronomics a spin-out company from Teesside University which creates a range of exciting and effective digital tools and software for all those studying, teaching, researching and working with skeletal remains.
www.anthronomics.com

Publications

View Tim Thompson's Publications on TeesRep

In the news

• Teesside University lecturer on forensic anthropology
  BBC Radio Tees, Neil Green, 10/04/2013, 16:52:03
  Tim Thompson comments.

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• Teesside University academic is poised to launch spin-out company
  BQ (Business Quarter North East), 04/01/2013, p.24
  Teesside University Dr Tim Thompson is accustomed to sharing his forensics knowledge and expertise with the police, from dealing with a recent crime to archaeological remains. Now with a grant from Teesside University Enterprise Development Fund and help from a DigitalCity Fellowship, he has launched his spin-out business.

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• Uni expert leading the way
  Evening Gazette, 21/01/2013, p.9
  A leading Teesside University forensic anthropologist is set to revolutionise the way bone identification is taught across the globe. Dr Tim Thompson has collaborated with digital experts Landslide Studios, a graduate company, to produce new software which will change the teaching of anthropology, biology and forensic crime scene identification.

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• Science faces a shortage of skeletons
  The Week, 19/01/2013, p.19
  Science faces a shortage of skeletons It is estimated that 100 billion people have lived and died -yet scientists are short of bones, says The Independent. Owing to social taboos and strict laws governing the use of human tissue and the repatriation of human remains, students of forensic science (an increasingly popular subject) are having to rely on models to learn about the skeleton. "In the UK you can donate your body to medicine but it must be used for medical education [rather than forensics]," explained Dr Tim Thompson, a reader in biological and forensic anthropology at Teesside University.

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• Forensic scientists need skeletons to train - but they're down to bare bones
  The Independent, 05/01/2013, p.18; The Independent (Web), 04/01/2013
  Considering scientists estimate that the number of people who have lived - and died - now comfortably exceeds 100 billion individuals, it would seem fair to assume that there was no shortage of one of the most fundamental human resources: bones. Dr Tim Thompson, a reader in biological and forensic anthropology at Teesside University and founder of Anthronomics, said teaching skeletal anatomy had become incredibly difficult in recent years.