Wolfram Meier-Augenstein

Wolfram Meier-Augenstein is an emeritus professor at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a member of the advisory board of the journal Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry and a member of the editorial board of the journal Isotopes in Environmental and Health Studies for the topics/disciplines ‘stable isotope tracer & methodology’.

Biography Meier-Augenstein was born in September 1959. while from 2009 to 2013 he was a Council member of the British Association for Human Identification (BAHID). He was one of the scientists consulted by the Garda Síochána investigating the case of the dismembered torso found in the Dublin Royal Canal. This case gained notoriety under the name Scissor Sisters. He was also one of the scientists consulted by the police investigating the Norfolk headless body case.

Most recently Meier-Augenstein was involved with the investigation of the death of Lamduan Armitage dubbed "The Lady of the Hills" and the "Thai Bride". His interpretation of stable isotopic signatures obtained from remains of the murder victim corroborated one line of investigation that the victim might have grown up in Thailand. A subsequently launched public appeal received a response from a Thai family who believed the victim could be their daughter. DNA tests finally confirmed the identity of the victim as Lamduan Armitage, née Seekanya, originally from Thailand who had moved to the UK in 1991.

He is the author of the 2010 book Stable Isotope Forensics, the first textbook dedicated to principles and forensic applications of stable isotope analytical techniques, which since has been extensively up-dated. The second edition, Stable Isotope Forensics - Methods and Forensic Applications of Stable Isotope Analysis, was published in 2018.

On 26 December 2022 Meier-Augenstein appeared in the 2022 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, with the title 'Secrets of Forensic Science', delivered by Sue Black, Baroness Black of Strome.

Selected publications

Articles W. Meier-Augenstein, W. Brand, G.F. Hoffmann, D. Rating (1994). “Bridging the Information Gap between Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry and Conventional Mass Spectrometry”. Biol. Mass Spectrom. 23, 376-378. W. Meier-Augenstein (1995). “On-line Recording of 13C/12C Ratios and Mass Spectra in one Gas Chromatographic Analysis”. J. High Resolut. Chromatogr. 18, 28-32.

W. Meier-Augenstein and R. H. Liu: "Forensic Applications of Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry", in Advances in Forensic Application of Mass Spectrometry by Jehuda Yinon [ed.], CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida (USA), (2003), chapter 4, 149 - 180.

W. Meier-Augenstein: "Stable Isotope Fingerprinting", in Forensic Human Identification: An Introduction by S. M. Black & T.J.U. Thomson [eds.], CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida (USA), (2006), chapter 2, 29-53.

W. Meier-Augenstein: "Forensic Isotope Analysis" in McGraw-Hill Yearbook of Science & Technology 2014, pp 120–124, (2014).

Books Stable Isotope Forensics: An Introduction to the Forensic Application of Stable Isotope Analysis. Wiley, 2010. Stable Isotope Forensics: Methods and Forensic Applications of Stable Isotope Analysis, 2nd Edition. Wiley, 2018.