Hi All,
I am a Forensic Science student at Glyndwr University, Wrexham and will be commencing my 3rd and final year of study in September this year.I have been selected to work with North Wales Police on a wildlife crime initiative and am hopeing to develop a technique which will enable latent fingerprints to be visualised on, and lifted from, a variety of different egg types.
I figured that the RSPB would be the best place to maybe get some information on places / people i could ask for expertise on egg shells and their surface texture and the variation between species.As a wildlife crime tool i believe that the success of this project would be of interest to the RSPB,
I would be extremely gratefull for any information you could give me.
During this summer I hope to collate as much research as possible on current fingerprinting techniques, with the help of NW Police Scientific Support, and on the composition and surface textures of Eggs and how they differ, hopefully from yourselves of any other agency you think may be able to help me.
I was unable to find an e-mail address for the RSPB themselves to ask if they have any specialists who may be able to help me research this project, on their staff. If anyone has any usefull contact details, please pass them on :)Many thanks for taking the time to read this message,Kind Regards,Claire Tallon
Hi, I was a Police WLO in Scotland
The best place to go for that sort of information is probably your local National Museum.
I know this sounds strange, but when the strict laws came in protecting birds and their eggs, most collecters handed their collections into a natural history department of a museum.
When I did my WLO training we went to the National Museum in Edinburgh, they have a mind blowing amount of eggs, the public do not have access normaly, but in your case I am sure they would grant you access, and be happy to answer your questions
Hi Claire
Welcome to the forum :-)
I think you could contact someone at The Lodge which is the RSPB HQ. I don't know about an email address but there is a lot of information on the web-site: http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/t/thelodge/index.aspx
Good luck
Best wishes Chris
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A very big thankyou to both of you!
I will check out the web address provided and get in touch with local Natural History Museums this week, would never have thought of thatone by the way.
This project will run untill May 2011 and anymore information or suggestions from anyone would be gratefully received.
Again, Many thanks,
Claire Tallon
Hi, I have a feeling that Liverpool museum has a good egg collection- worthn checking :)
S
For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides, binoculars, scopes, tripods, etc - put 'Birding Tips' into the search box
It sounds like a very worthwhile project, thank you for telling us about it. Unfortunately I cannot give you any more advice, sorry, but wish you success with the work.
Kind regards Jane.
Hi Claire,
Sounds like a very worthwhile project indeed. There's a contact form on the website here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/contactus/form.asp?subject=12&f=1
I've used this before, your question gets passed to the person who can answer it best.
Best wishes,
LB
Hi all,
Big thanks again for the hints and tips, all gratefully recieved B)
Liverpool Natural History Museum was top of my list, had a visit to their entemology section last year as part of my forensic biology module and found the staff and collections very helpfull!
Thanks again
Claire :)