For the last 3 months, I’ve had the privilege of doing a work placement at the Forensic Voice Centre with Richard Rhodes, Katherine Earnshaw and Bryony Nuttall. For those who aren’t familiar, forensic speech and audio experts conduct detailed analysis of audio recordings for the purposes of forensic investigations. Sometimes this involves transcribing some speech that has been recorded in very poor conditions. Other times, experts are asked to compare recordings from a known suspect who has been arrested and interviewed with a voice heard in incriminating audio evidence (such as threatening WhatsApp voice messages or fraudulent phone calls to a bank), to determine whether or not it’s the same person speaking in both recordings.
For my PhD at the University of Cambridge, I’ve been exploring the relationship between voice quality and voice distinctiveness in forensic phonetic contexts, particularly how poor-quality audio impacts voice quality analysis. After several years researching the area of forensic speech science, I decided I wanted to experience my own research in action and get a taste of what being a forensic speech and audio expert really means. I approached the team last year when I was about half-way through my PhD and, with the generous support from the Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership, we devised a bespoke internship that perfectly complimented my PhD project and my interests in the field, while targeting some key training needs and diversifying my experience.
I completed some training in voice quality analysis, specifically focussing on analysing the same speaker in different technical conditions. This has been directly helpful for my research because this type of analysis, which is a key part of my PhD, is very difficult and subjective, and there are few opportunities to train with other experts to review your work. We also collaboratively devised and conducted an inter-laboratory comparison exercise focussed on voice quality, with several other forensic audio labs taking part in this quality management exercise.
My experience has been varied and fascinating; I helped the team review and advise on a script for a fictionalised podcast about forensic speech scientists, and I helped prep cross-examination questions for MSc students participating in a mock court case at the University of York. Much of my time was spent shadowing the team in all the different stages of forensic casework, from prepping and screening cases, to communicating with police forces, to completing detailed auditory analysis. This has given me invaluable experience and a fascinating insight into a potential future career for me.
The FVC are dedicated to conducting extremely thorough and high-quality work, which made my experience fascinating and rigorous from start to finish. For those who are considering approaching a company for a placement, I’d really encourage you to do so. This is a unique opportunity and has completely transformed where I see my career going next. I’m thoroughly grateful to the Forensic Voice Centre and the OOC-DTP for giving me this opportunity.
