Lois Fairclough
PhD student, Associate LecturerResearch Overview
My research interests cover forensic phonetics and sociophonetics. My PhD investigates acoustic features used as a parameter for speaker identification, focussing on how effective they are in distinguishing individual speakers. I am also interested in investigating the limits of intra-speaker variation and the implications of this for forensic casework.
Current Research
I am currently employed as a Research Associate in Criminology, where I conduct quantitative survey analysis using data from the first-ever national survey on police uniforms in England and Wales. This research is being conducted in collaboration with the Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), with the aim of informing evidence-based policies on police uniform.
I am a Research Associate on "The Voice of the North: Language, accent, and identity through artistic innovation" project with Professor Claire Nance, in collaboration with Jewellers and Escape2Make (E2M). We adopt an innovative qualitative approach to understanding identity through accent, linking the physicality of speech and abstract responses of young poeple through artistic engagement.
I am a Research Assistant on the Targets and Dynamics in Speech (TARDIS) project led by Dr Sam Kirkham. I collect ultrasound tongue imaging data to analyse speech production in speakers from the North and South of England.
Current Teaching
LING223 - English Phonetics
National Uniform and Equipment Survey
01/02/2025 → 06/06/2025
Research
Lancashire Tongues
01/10/2022 → …
Research
UK Language Variation and Change 15
Participation in conference - Academic
Winstanley College
Visiting an external academic institution
Interdisciplinary Conference on Voice Identity
Participation in conference - Academic
Winstanley College
Visiting an external academic institution
Blackpool Sixth-Form College
Visiting an external academic institution
Lancashire Tongues: A Community-Driven Approach to Dialect Research Using Ultrasound Imaging.
Invited talk
Forensic phonetics: Exploring mismatches between judicial expectations and scientific capability
Invited talk
University of Melbourne
Visiting an external academic institution
The 19th Australasian International Conference onSpeech Science and Technology (Event)
Publication peer-review
Lancashire Tongues - Burnley
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition
Visible Voices
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition
31st Annual Conference of the International Association for Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics
Participation in conference - Academic
Winstanley College
Visiting an external academic institution
Blackpool Sixth-Form College
Visiting an external academic institution
Current and New Methods in Sociolinguistics
Participation in conference - Academic
Forensic Voice Comparison Short-Course hosted by Lancaster University and Soundscape Voice Evidence.
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
International Association for Forensic Phonetics and Acoustics (External organisation)
Membership of committee
Lancashire Tongues - Blackburn
Types of Public engagement and outreach - Festival/Exhibition
New Ways of Analyzing Variation
Participation in conference - Academic
IAFPA 2022
Participation in conference - Academic
Lancaster Postgraduate Conference in Linguistics and Language Teaching 2022
Participation in conference - Academic
IAFPA 2021
Participation in conference - Academic
Phonetics Lab (Organisational unit)
Membership of committee
Best Student Poster Award
Prize (including medals and awards)