Get to Know Your Student Committee: Experimental Liaison, Madeleine Ingham

We asked the members of the 2024-2025 Student Committee to answer some questions about themselves to help you get to know who they are and what they do.

What is your school, program, and year?
University of Birmingham, Psychology Ph.D., 3rd year

Why psychology and the law?
I wanted to be like Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs—I found her journey of piecing together fragments of physical and memory evidence to find Buffalo Bill fascinating. This sparked my interest in how the two fields intersect. Studying memory in a forensic setting has allowed me to combine my passions, as memory plays a crucial role in the criminal justice system and is a key stepping stone in gathering information about a crime or a perpetrator. Without memory, Clarice wouldn’t have recognised the Death’s-head moth in Jame Gumb’s house and realised he was Buffalo Bill!

What is your favorite thing about your current graduate program?
The range of incredible opportunities - I've been lucky enough to work with renowned academics and travel nationally and internationally to present our work.

If you were not in graduate school, what would you do?
If I wasn't doing a Ph.D. I think I'd have trained to be a psychological wellbeing practitioner or a nurse.

What advice do you have for those applying to graduate school?
Ask lots of questions and do plenty of networking. Reaching out to researchers, whether their work aligns with your research interests or you simply admire their work, is a great way to build connections and showcase your enthusiasm. Early networking can also serve as a stepping stone for potential future collaborations.

If you had one year to train, what Olympic sport do you think you could qualify and medal in?
I'd do well at sprinting if there was a McDonalds at the finish line.

Books or movies?
Movies!

If you could only watch 3 movies for the rest of your life, what would they be?
Silence of the Lambs, Misery, Devil Wears Prada (to lighten the mood)

What is your go-to road trip snack?
Salt and vinegar crisps

Does pineapple belong on pizza?
No, I'm sorry!

Explain your hot take about pineapple on pizza. 
The textures are all wrong!

What is your favorite place you have ever traveled?
Northern Territory, Australia.

Would you only eat hot food or cold food for the rest of your life? Why?
Cold foods - I'm a big snacker so hot foods would be less practical.

What is your favorite weird fact?
Wombat poop is cube shaped - I just googled weird facts to find one and I am suitably impressed. 

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