Pierre Margot is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

forensics Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

scientist known for his contribution to the invention of the first forensic light source

Polilight The Polilight is a portable, high-intensity, filtered light source used by forensic scientists and others to detect fingerprints, bodily fluids and other evidence from crime scenes and other places. Similar products to the Polilight Hola include th ...

for the detection of

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...

, biological fluids and other evidence on the crime scene. This new technology was named by the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum, formerly known as the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS), is a collection of 4 museums in Sydney, owned by the Government of New South Wales. Powerhouse is a contemporary museum of applied arts and sciences, explori ...

as one of the top 100 Australian innovations of the 20th century. It was a great revolution in the field of

forensic identification Forensic identification is the application of forensic science, or "forensics", and technology to identify specific objects from the trace evidence they leave, often at a crime scene or the scene of an accident. Forensic means "for the courts". Hu ...

since this light could be used at the crime scene, unlike lasers at that time.

Biography

Pierre Margot was born in

Delémont Delémont (; ; , ) is the capital of the Swiss canton of Jura. The city has approximately 12,000 inhabitants . History The area of the municipality was already settled in the middle Bronze Age. Fifteen urn burials have been discovered in the ...

(Switzerland) on 25 February 1950. He obtained his degree in forensic science and criminology at the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; ) in Lausanne, Switzerland, was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second-oldest in Switzerland, and one of the oldest universities ...

in 1974. He then get his master's degree (1977) and PhD (1980) in forensic science at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

, Glasgow, Scotland. He then continues post-doctoral studies in toxicology in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1986, he became the fourth director of the Institute of Forensic Science and Criminology (IPSC) of the University of Lausanne; he has been on charged until 2016. During his career, he has contributed to numerous articles in forensic journals, wrote many books and book chapters, and also give several lectures worldwide.

Work

Because of his expertise in forensics, Pierre Margot has worked on several international issues. In 1972, he participated, in Northern Ireland, to the investigation of the Bloody Sunday with Doug Lucas and Peter Forest. He then continued his international involvement in 1985, during his participation in the investigation of the

Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior The sinking of ''Rainbow Warrior'', codenamed Opération Satanique, was an act of French state terrorism. Described as a "covert operation" by the Division Action, "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence agency, the Directorate-Gene ...

. In 1989, while working at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

in Canberra, Australia, he participated (with Ron Warrener, Hilton Kobus, Milutin Stoilovic and Chris Lennard) to the invention of the

. He participated, among other during his career, to the investigation of the massacres of the

Order of the Solar Temple The Order of the Solar Temple (, OTS), or simply the Solar Temple, was a new religious movement and secret society, often described as a cult, notorious for the mass deaths of many of its members in several mass murders and suicides throughout ...

(1994–1997) in Canada and in Suisse as well as on the

Omagh bombing The Omagh bombing was a car bombing on 15 August 1998 in the town of Omagh in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was carried out by the Real Irish Republican Army (Real IRA), a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group who op ...

in Northern Ireland (1998, with Doug Lucas and Peter Forest).

Distinctions

* 2004: Merentibus Award – Krakov (Poland) – higher distinction awarded by the Institute of Forensic Research * 2010: Recognition Award – Rofin Forensic (Australia) – for the development of the

* 2011: Douglas M. Lucas Award –

American Academy of Forensic Sciences The American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) is a society for forensic science professionals, and was founded in 1948. The society is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. The AAFS is a multi-disciplinary professional organization that ...

* 2013: Doctorate ''honoris causa'' of the

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières The (, ''University of Quebec in Trois-Rivières'', UQTR), also known as "l'université du peuple", established in 1969 and mainly located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada, is a public university within the network. As of April 2016, the uni ...

* 2014: John A. Dondero Memorial Award of the

International Association for Identification The International Association for Identification (IAI) is the largest forensic organization in the world. It was originally formed as the "International Association for Criminal Identification" in October 1915. Through the years it has grown into ...

*2014: Nominated to the French Forensic Science Hall of Fame of the Association Québécoise de Criminalistique

Scientific groups

* Switzerland representative and member of the

* Member of the Swiss Chamber of technical legal experts and scientists * Honorary member of the Forensic Science Society (UK) * Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences * Member of the Association québécoise de criminalistique (Canada) * Member of the Jura Institute of Sciences, Letters and Arts

Books

*Kuhn A., Schwarzenegger C., Margot P., Donatsch A., Aebi M.F., Jositsch D. (eds.), Criminology, Criminal Policy and Criminal Law in an International Perspective: essays in honour of Martin Killias on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Stämpfli, Bern, 2013. *Champod C, Lennard C, Margot P, Stoilovic M, Fingerprints and Other Ridge Skin Impressions. CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Margot, Pierre Forensic scientists Living people 1950 births 20th-century Swiss scientists University of Lausanne alumni Academic staff of the University of Lausanne