Mike Spencer (CF 2025) reflected on the first year since beginning his Churchill Fellowship travels across the USA and Canada, and the progress of his pioneering work using Eurasian otters to locate missing people in water.
By Mike Spencer, 2026
Emergency response
About this theme
This theme covers topics relating to encouraging innovation in the management of public emergencies of all kinds, from prevention to response and post-crisis recovery. Many Fellows have undertaken projects addressing this over the years including via our recent programme of Fellowships on emergency response which ran during 2019-2020.
Emma Beddall (CF 2020) delivered a keynote presentation at the Beyond the Family Tree conference presenting findings from her Churchill Fellowship research on how investigative genetic genealogy can help provide resolution for families of unidentified individuals.
By Emma Beddall, 2026
Mike Spencer (CF 2025) won the Innovator of the Year award at the Global Search & Rescue Excellence Awards, recognising his work pioneering the use of Eurasian otters in UK search and rescue.
By Mike Spencer, 2026
Darryl Ashford-Smith (CF 2023) was interviewed for the publication, Fire, with his business partner Lee Newman about their working partnership, UK Emergency Robotics Responders Org (UKERRO) and their work with drones. The pair hosted their second expo for the Emergency Responders industry in Greater Manchester at the end of April.
By Darryl Ashford-Smith, 2026
Emma Beddall (CF 2020) had her PhD research cited in the Law Commission’s final report on burial and cremation, which supports her recommendations (see pages 302-308) on the importance of burying unidentified remains to preserve opportunities for future identification through DNA testing and genetic genealogy.
By Emma Beddall, 2026
As part of the National Police Wellbeing Service’s OK9 team, Gary Botterill (CF 2015) contributed to a chapter on the OK9 wellbeing and trauma support dog programme in the book Wellbeing in Policing.
By Garry Botterill, 2026
By Mike Spencer, 2025
Ian Nuttall (CF 2011) has been awarded the Fleur Lombard Bursary, supporting travel to New Zealand in 2026.
By Ian Nuttall, 2025
By Matthew Peters, 2024