Profile

Professor Dana Wilson-Kovacs
BA (Bucharest) MPhil (Exeter) PhD (Exeter)
Associate Professor (Sociology)
2683
01392 722683
Amory 318B
My latest research examines the operational demands, organisational settings and resources, and professional values that circumscribe the development and application of digital forensics in police investigations in England and Wales. Long-term, I have been interested in the interface between forensic and operational cultures, and especially the contexts and ways in which outside the laboratory, forensic expertise is acquired and recognised and its impact on investigative practices.
Projects
Human Factors and Digital Technology in Forensic Science: Decision-Making and Legal Implications (January 2022-March 2022). Co-Investigator. Policy Support Fund, University of Exeter. Principal Investigators: Dr. Bethany Growns and Dr. Rebecca Helm. £16,750.
Understanding the Use of Digital Forensics in Policing in England and Wales: An Ethnographic Analysis of Current Practices and Professional Dynamics (September 2018-June 2022). Principal Investigator. ESRC Open Call Award. Co-Investigators: Prof. Brian Rappert and Prof. Sabina Leonelli. £445,045
Digital Forensics in UK Policing: An Ethnographic Investigation of a Rapidly-Developing Forensic Domain (September 2017- August 2019). British Academy Small Grant Award. £9999
Triage in Digital Forensics (January 2017-July 2017). Innovation, Impact and Business Link Award, University of Exeter. £1448
https://digital-forensics-in-policing.net/
Research group links
Research interests
- The use and role of digital forensics in policing and the criminal justice system
- Standards and accreditation in digital forensics
- Organisational change in forensics and policing
- The governance, understanding and application of forensic technologies
- Forensic cultures, occupations and practices
- Cyber-crime
- Crime investigation
- Professions and professionalisation
- Class, gender and sexuality
Research supervision
- The governance, understanding and application of forensic technologies
- Forensic cultures, occupations and practices
- The use and role of digital forensics in policing and the criminal justice system
- Cyber-crime
- Crime investigation
- Professions and professionalisation
- Class, gender and sexuality
- Work and employment
Research students
Current
Elena Teodora Manea
Thesis title: The Other Voice of Medical Consultation. Analysis of Medical Interpreting in the NHS.
Past
Elena Sharratt
Thesis title: Exploring the emergence and disappearance of transableism on transabled.org: Digital ethnography of a transient mental illness. ESRC-funded. PhD awarded May 2021
Rita Alberto
Thesis title: Gender distorting genre distorting gender: exploring women's rock musicking practices in contemporary Portugal. PhD awarded April 2018.
David Wyatt
Thesis title: Accomplishing Technical and Investigative Expertise in Everyday Crime Scene Investigation. ESRC-funded. PhD awarded July 2015.
Victoria Coven
Topic: In vitro fertilisation and multiple births: international context and policy consideration. MPhil awarded January 2015.
Louise Bezuidenhout
Thesis title: Contextuality in life science ethics: dual-use as a case study. Wellcome Trust-funded. PhD awarded July 2013.
Sigrun Einarsdottir
Thesis title: Bach in Everyday Life and the Performance of ‘Art Music’- The case of the Croydon Bach choir in London performing Bach’s Mass in B Minor. PhD awarded October 2012.
Modules taught
- SOC1019 - Contemporary Society: Themes and Perspectives
- SOC2034 - Gender and Society 1
- SOC2135 - Forensic Cultures
- SOC3013 - Gender and Society 1
- SOC3040 - Dissertation
- SOC3143 - Forensic Cultures