PROF.MORRIS
file_01 · about
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file_01 · about

Strange devices,
obscure formats,
contextual puzzles.

Practitioner since 2008. Academic. Investigator of strange devices and unusual cases. Passionate about making digital forensics kinder.

18+Years operational
170+Investigations
150+Publications
13Awards
Practitioner since 2008 Churchill Fellow 2025 Police Science Council HOSAC Advisory STEAC Founder · Sherfox Labs University of Southampton Practitioner since 2008 Churchill Fellow 2025 Police Science Council HOSAC Advisory STEAC Founder · Sherfox Labs University of Southampton
— roles & affiliations

Practice,
academia,
leadership.

Held in deliberate balance — each role shaping the others, evidence first throughout.

Main
Professor of Digital Exploitation and IntelligenceUniversity of Southampton
Leadership
Deputy Head of School (Knowledge Exchange & Enterprise)School of Electronics and Computer Science
Director
Director, ECS Partners LtdKnowledge transfer company
Founder
Founder & Lead, Sherfox LabsForensic research, tooling and development
Advisory
Police Science CouncilNational policing science strategy
Advisory
Home Office Science Advisory CouncilHOSAC
Advisory
STEACScience and Technology Evidence and Advice Committee
Fellow
Churchill FellowMental health support for digital forensic investigators · 2025
— biography

Eighteen years operational —
and chosen to stay there.

Prof. Morris has spent over 18 years working in digital investigation and has chosen to stay operational. She enjoys difficult cases, unusual devices, and situations where there is no neat answer and no perfect tool.

Her work sits deliberately between practice and academia — shaping the questions she researches, how students are taught, and how leadership is exercised. Evidence comes first, clarity of reasoning second, and honesty about limitations always.

Prof. Morris is passionate about mental health-aware forensic practice. This work can be emotionally heavy and cognitively intense. Sustainable teams produce better evidence, better decisions, and better outcomes.

Outside the lab: adventures in the Red Sea, camels, TARDIS sightings, and a surprisingly competitive relationship with competitive baking.

— interests

What Prof. Morris
thinks about.

Topics that drive the casework, the research, the teaching — and most likely the supervision conversation.

🔬

Operational digital forensics

Practitioner-led work that has to stand up in court — and stay current as technology changes.

🔌

Unusual devices & awkward technology

The things nobody else knows what to do with. Bespoke filesystems, IoT, vehicles, the long tail.

📦

Acquisition & reliability

How evidence is captured, how robust it is, and how to defend the methods used to obtain it.

🧠

Mental health-led practice

The emotional reality of forensic work. Sustainable teams. Better evidence. Better decisions.

🎭

Scenario-based teaching

Cyberly — a fictional investigative world used to teach real forensic thinking without operational risk.

⚖️

Ethics, trust, evidence in court

What it takes for a digital finding to be trustworthy, defensible, and clearly communicated to non-experts.

🌟

Under-represented voices

Visible, vocal advocacy. Mentoring. Outreach. The field is stronger when more people are in it.

— awards & recognition

A small,
affectionately ordered shelf.

Thirteen pieces of formal recognition — including operational case commendations, teaching awards, advocacy shortlists, and at least one for baking.

2023
UoS Vice-Chancellor's Awards
Finalist · Teaching
2023
SUSU Awards
Best Pastoral Support · Student-voted
2022
Cranfield University
Outstanding Teacher
2022
EveryWoman in Technology
Finalist · Industry recognition
2019
Cranfield Bake Off
Winner · Sweet Bake
2018
Women in Defence
Outstanding Contribution Shortlist
2017–22
Case Commendations
Four formal commendations for operational casework
2025
Churchill Fellowship
Mental health support for digital forensic investigators
2021
Cranfield University
Innovation in Teaching
2020
Course Director Recognition
MSc Digital Forensics
2019
Module Manager Award
Forensic computing modules · Cranfield
2018
Postgraduate Teaching Award
Cranfield · MSc supervision
Various
Invited Talk Recognitions
Conference best-of nominations across the years
Other case files
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