Forensic Science on Trial.

Sue Black is one of the world’s leading forensic anthropologists. She is the 37th President of St John’s College, Oxford, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Oxford and Visiting Professor of Forensic Anatomy in the Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford. She was previously Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University.

After graduating from the University of Aberdeen in Human Anatomy, Sue began her career, lecturing in Anatomy at St Thomas’ Hospital in London and working as a consultant forensic anthropologist for both the Home Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Her international forensic investigations have taken her to Iraq, Sierra Leone and Grenada, and she was the lead forensic anthropologist during the international war crimes investigations in Kosovo.

From 2003 to 2018, Sue was Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee and Director of its Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification, where she established an international reputation for her department.

Sue was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to Higher Education and Forensic Science. In 2021, she was appointed to the House of Lords as a crossbench peer, taking the title Baroness Black of Strome. She is the lifetime Professor of Anatomy of the Royal Scottish Academy and, in 2024, was appointed to the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Scotland’s highest order of chivalry.

Sue is also an acclaimed author and communicator. Her latest book, An Expert Witness (July 2026), follows her bestselling books All That Remains and Written in Bone. She has made numerous radio and television appearances, including on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs and The Life Scientific, bringing forensic science and human anatomy to a wide public audience.

Lecture overview

Whilst there may be some truth in the fictionalised and wonderful world of forensic science, the reality can be surprisingly different. Baroness Black is the UK’s most experienced forensic anthropologist, with more than 30 years’ casework in the UK and overseas. She will explore the importance of forensic science across political, investigative, legal and humanitarian domains, illustrating why a robust forensic science system is critical to safe justice and to the prevention of miscarriages of justice.

In 2025, she co-chaired the Westminster Commission on Forensic Science, whose report, Forensic Science in England and Wales: Pulling out of the Graveyard Spiral, opened with a stark assessment:

“Forensic science in England and Wales is not working well for anyone. Not for the police, not for the scientists, not for the suppliers of services or those companies who may wish to enter the market, not for the courts, and by extension, not for the public.”

It went on to acknowledge the fundamental paradox: forensic science is regarded as a critical tool for bringing the guilty to justice and exonerating the innocent, yet the system itself is failing to deliver consistently.

That damning assessment was subsequently reinforced by the 2026 review undertaken by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. Baroness Black will examine how forensic science in England and Wales has reached such a parlous state—and, crucially, what can still be done to pull it out of its ‘graveyard spiral’.

She will explore the consequences of issues including market failure, digital backlogs, the erosion of specialist skills and a lack of independence, setting out why she believes national oversight and urgent, systemic reform are now essential.

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