Debs Ryder

I am the module coordinator for the Crime Scene and Forensic Investigation module and the Forensic Taphonomy module and I teach across the following undergraduate and postgraduate modules:

• Crime Scene and Forensic Investigation
• Forensic Taphonomy
• Mass Fatality Incidents
• Forensic Evidence from Crime Scene to Court
• The Future of Forensic Investigations
• Applied Forensic Science

I also supervise undergraduate and postgraduate dissertation students, and act as a reviewer for doctorate students.

My research interests lay within the disciplines of:

• Forensic Archaeology
• Conflict Archaeology
• Forensic Anthropology
• Forensic Taphonomy

My research topics include:

• The use of Forensic Ecology in Major Crime investigations
• Disaster Victim Identification
• Mass Fatality Incidents

Dr Deborah Ryder is a Lecturer in Forensic Studies within the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Portsmouth.

Dr Ryder holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Forensic Science gained from Anglia Ruskin University in 2006. After the completion of her degree she spent four years working as a Research Assistant at the JDRF laboratory at the University of Cambridge, during which time she completed an MSc in Forensic Archaeology and Anthropology at Cranfield University. During her MSc, Dr Ryder travelled to Rwanda to conduct surveys of genocide sites, provide forensic anthropological training of staff at the National Commission against Genocide, and to conduct her research on skeletal remains from the 1994 Rwandan Genocide entitled 'A multi-site investigation into cranial trauma variations in Rwanda'. In 2016 Dr Ryder was awarded her PhD entitled 'A multi proxy investigation into the effects of burial environments on nuclear DNA in bone over forensic and archaeological timescales' from Cranfield University.

Since 2013 Dr Ryder has worked with police forces across the United Kingdom and Channel Islands providing assistance and specialist advice in the search and recovery of human remains in her role as Reporting Forensic Archaeologist. Dr Ryder has worked on over 100 cases attending crime scenes including clandestine burials, concealed remains, fatal fires and building collapses, and has worked at five large scale mass fatality DVI incidences. Dr Ryder also uses her expertise to assist teams of volunteers overseas in the recovery and repatriation of missing personnel from WWII.