Forensic geologist Dr Duncan Pirrie explains how soil can be used to analyse particulate trace evidence used to link offenders to crime scenes and in the search for missing murder victims.

Find out more: southwales.ac.uk/research

Hello and welcome to Sixty Second Spotlight. I’m Associate Professor Duncan Pirrie, a geologist at the University of South Wales. My research focuses on how minerals help society.

Few people realise that geology can be used in the investigation of serious crimes like murder.  The make-up of any soil relates to the solid geology beneath our feet along with more recent processes. As a result, soils are distinctive and relate to specific places.

At a crime scene, traces of soil can stick to an offenders clothing or car. By analysing this soil we can test whether or not that soil came from the crime scene.  We can also turn the science around and use soils on for example a car, to identify the locations where it has been.

But the link between geology and crime goes further still.  We all rely on mined minerals in our phones, cars and computers. Mineral commodities have a high value and that attracts the attention of organised crime cartels.

Minerals produced from the ground and then concentrated can be stolen as they are transported around the world – this is big business – individual shipments might loose $1 million dollars in value.

Consequently, one of my current areas of research is looking at how to investigate, detect and then deter this type of criminal activity.

In this research podcast, biotechnologist Professor Denis Murphy, from the University of South Wales, addresses the potential crisis in producing sufficient food to feed the expanding world population. This applies especially to meat production as newly emerging countries, such as China, are consuming more animal products especially beef and pork.

This has led to the development of modern intensive livestock farming, which involves highly efficient meat and milk production and lower prices for shoppers.

But this intensive farming often comes at a price and in many cases the livestock is increasingly fed on rations that include growth hormones and antibiotics that can get into the human food chain with serious implications for our health.

Find out more: southwales.ac.uk/research

Hello and welcome to Sixty Second Spotlight. I’m Professor Denis Murphy, a biotechnologist at the University of South Wales. My research focuses on using genetic technologies to improve agriculture to cope with new diseases, environmental destruction and climate change.

There have been many significant improvements in agriculture over recent decades.

For example, thanks to the so-called Green Revolution of the late 20th century, new crop varieties mean that farmers can grow more than five times as much food on the same area of land as they could previously.

Livestock farming has also seen some great gains in terms of improved yields of meat and milk and reductions in prices for shoppers.

However, some of these benefits have come at a cost in terms of animal welfare and safety.

One area of particular concern is the practice of intensive livestock farming that is becoming increasingly common around the world.

This involves keeping thousands of animals, such as cattle and pigs, in huge enclosures that they are unable to leave and where they are fed grain rations instead of being able to forage and graze outside.

In some counties like the USA, these animals are given growth hormones and even antibiotics in their rations so that they grow faster and produce more meat, although this is banned in Europe.

In the USA, more than half of all antibiotics are now consumed by farm animals instead of people.

The overuse of antibiotics on farms is contributing to the crisis of antibiotic resistance that is increasingly affecting healthcare systems, sometimes leading to the death of patients with simple infections due to cuts.

While animal products can form a useful part of some diets, it is important that our livestock farming is done responsibly and that the use of antibiotics and hormones is reduced or eliminated.