Event type:
Regional Group, Lecture, Evening meeting
Organised by:
Western Regional Group
Venue:
The Hub, Aztec West
Event status:
EVENT CLOSED
The Western Regional Group is pleased to invite Dr
Alastair Ruffell from Queen’s University Belfast. During
this talk, Alastair will be sharing his experience using
Earth science techniques in forensics for the search of
hidden objects and trace evidence analysis, and how
systems of valuation are affected by fraud.
Some geological fakes and frauds are carried out solely for
financial gain (mining fraud), whereas others maybe have
increasing aesthetic appeal (faked fossils) or academic
advancement (fabricated data) as their motive. All types of
geological fake or fraud can be ingenious and sophisticated.
Fake gems, faked fossils and mining fraud are common
examples where monetary profit is to blame: nonetheless
these may impact both scientific theory and the reputation of
geologists and Earth scientists.
The substitution or fabrication of both physical and
intellectual data also occurs for no direct financial gain, such as career advancement or establishment of belief (e.g.
evolution vs. creationism). Knowledge of such fakes and frauds may assist in spotting undetected geological crimes:
application of geoforensic techniques helps the scientific community to
detect such activity, which ultimately undermines scientific integrity.
This interactive talk will introduce forensic geology and then
demonstrate with a series of case studies the application of this
discipline to the history of, and investigation into, fakes and frauds.
These will include geological crimes committed for purely financial gain
(oil/gas, water, gems/precious metals) and academic fakes, especially
fossils.
Fakes and frauds that use analyses familiar to geologists will
be considered (XRD, FTIR, SEM, radiocarbon) in archaeology,
antiques, paintings and manuscripts. We will end with the weird and
wonderful – geological frauds and fakes that were the result of nonscientific
belief, academic rivalry and probably pure madness, but the
audience
Time
6.00pm. Refreshments from 6.30pm
Speaker
Alistair Ruffell, Belfast
Venue
The Hub, Aztec West