Turi King is a Canadian-British Professor of public engagement, and Reader in Genetics and Archaeology at the University of Leicester. She is known for "cracking one of the biggest forensic DNA cases in history" during the exhumation and reburial of Richard III of England.
Video Turi King
Education and early life
King was born in England but her family emigrated to Canada when she was a few weeks old and she grew up in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She studied at the University of British Columbia and then at the University of Cambridge where she read Archaeology and Anthropology and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree. She won a scholarship to study for a Master of Science degree in Molecular Genetics at the University of Leicester gaining a first with distinction. In 2000, she started her doctoral research as a Wellcome Trust Prize Student at the University of Leicester "to specialize in tracing migration patterns by using genetics." Her award-winning thesis on the relationship between British surnames and Y-chromosomal haplotypes was published in 2007 and eventually formed the basis of the book Surnames, DNA and Family History co-authored with David Hey and George Redmonds.
Maps Turi King
Career and research
King's research initially centred around forensics, genetic genealogy/surnames and using DNA, such as the Y chromosome, to trace past human migrations. Her work has included tracking "the signal of the Viking migration to the north of England" which resulted in her appearing Michael Wood's The Great British Story - A People's History on BBC Two and in Michael Wood's Story of England. Her overarching research themes combine genetics with history, forensics, archaeology, geography and genetic genealogy and it was this background which made her ideally placed to lead the genetic analysis in the King Richard III case.
Public engagement
As Professor of public engagement, King regularly undertakes public speaking at universities, schools and public events such as the Cheltenham Science Festival and Moscow Science Festival to a Congressional Breakfast on Capitol Hill in Washington and the Queen's Lecture in Berlin. She advises on numerous television programmes and provides genetic expertise to authors such as Patricia Cornwell, Edward Glover and David McKie.
King has appeared in a number of television and radio documentaries as an expert in genetic genealogy, forensic or ancient DNA expert. In 2017, King was appointed Professor of Public Engagement at the University of Leicester.
TV, video and radio appearances
Publications
Awards and honours
In 2016, King was appointed an Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association in recognition of her contribution to public engagement in science.
Personal life
King is a single mother with four children.
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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