Dr Richard Rhodes
Director
Forensic Specialist in Speech and Audio
Dr Rhodes (BA MSc PhD MCSFS) has over 14 years’ experience and has worked on over 1400 forensic cases including a range of high-profile and international proceedings. He has carried out research into vocal aging and cognitive bias mitigations for forensic speech science. He teaches at Masters level and co-supervises PhD research at the University of Cambridge and the University of York. He is Chair of the executive committee of IAFPA: the International Association for Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics, having previously been treasurer and membership secretary.
Dr Katherine Earnshaw
Director
Forensic Specialist in Speech and Audio
Dr Earnshaw (BA MSc PhD MCSFS) has been involved in over five hundred cases since 2019, including transcription and speaker comparison cases. Additionally, she has carried out research on the impact of accommodation on a range of forensic phonetic parameters, and variation in West Yorkshire accents. Dr Earnshaw is a member of the International Association for Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics and the British Association of Academic Phoneticians. She has lectured at the University of Huddersfield, and she is an Industry Associate at the University of York.
Bryony Nuttall
Director
Forensic Specialist in Speech and Audio
Ms Nuttall (BA MSc ACSFS) has been involved in over three hundred cases since 2021. She has conducted research about Automatic Speaker Recognition systems, as well as academic projects in forensic phonetics through her MSc degree. She produces evidential reports for transcription, enhancement and voice comparisons casework, and is responsible for relationship management and client liaison. She is a member and affiliate of a number of professional bodies and associations including the CSFS and IAFPA. She is an Industry Associate at the University of York.
We are assisted by a group of technical advisors who are highly qualified experts in their specialist field. They are not employed by us, but they provide independent advice and auditing, and consult with us on our procedures, analysis methods and security.
Dr Philip Harrison: expert in forensic audio analysis with over 25 years of casework and method-development experience. Dr Harrison has a background in acoustical engineering and now works as a research software engineer at The University of York. Dr Harrison has given evidence in a range of very high-profile cases in the UK and abroad, including at the ICC in the Hague.
Dr Adam Kelly: computer scientist who provides advice and support on our IT and cyber security systems. Dr Kelly has a PhD in biomechanical engineering and works in software engineering for an international technology company.
Prof Vincent Hughes: Professor in Forensic Speech Science at The University of York which is a world-leading centre for forensic speech science research. Dr Hughes leads research projects and supervises postgraduate research in forensic interpretation of voice data, and the use of automatic speaker recognition (ASR) systems.
Prof Paul Foulkes: Professor in Phonetics and Linguistics – and director of courses for forensic speech science – at the University of York’s world-leading language and linguistic science department. As well as leading key research projects, Prof Foulkes has supervised doctoral research from a number of leading figures in forensic phonetics.
