Claire Gwinnett

Dr Claire Gwinnett is currently a Professor in Forensic and Environmental Science at Staffordshire University in the UK and is internationally recognised for her forensic fibre work. Dr Gwinnett has led national and international projects conducted research in the recovery, analysis and interpretation of polymers, particularly fibres for the forensic industry since 2004, where she initiated her fibres work in the development of proficiency testing schemes for the creation of large-scale synthetic fibre databases as part of her PhD.  Since then, she has worked on improving methods of fibre (and now microplastic analysis) with international organisations, which has impacted industry, the public sector, academia and policy makers.  Claire is acknowledged as one of the world’s leading forensic fibre researchers and has worked with all leading international forensic science organisations in fibre research; these have led to changes used in the recovery and analysis of these polymers for the Criminal Justice System, including improved contamination prevention protocols and methods to automate the characterisation and identification of fibres. Claire now works in applying forensic science approaches to microplastics to improve characterisation and better understanding of their source and prevalence. Claire is currently the Research lead for the Forensic Fibre and Microplastic Research Group at Staffordshire University which aims to use a multidisciplinary approach to improve the analysis and interpretation of particulates for both environmental and forensic work. Gwinnett has an excellent publication record with over 60 conference papers, many invited and keynote, multiple high impact research articles, three patents, 9 book chapters and many popular science articles, one of which has a global reach of 5.2 million.  Her research has had extensive media attention including global news outlets and front covers of national industry publications.
Prof Gwinnett is recognised as a UK lead for the development of validation studies for ISO accreditation for UK Police forces; in this position she has provided expert opinion, professional reviews and developed practitioner workshops for all 44 forces.