astronomy

SallyAnn Harbison

SallyAnn Harbison is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand SallyAnn Harbison rather than just read about it. In short: SallyAnn Harbison is a New Zealand forensic scientist. She leads the forensic biology team at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research, and is an associate professor at the University of Auckland.

Key takeaways

SallyAnn Harbison belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect SallyAnn Harbison to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of SallyAnn Harbison from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

SallyAnn Harbison is a New Zealand forensic scientist. She leads the forensic biology team at the Institute of Environmental Science and Research, and is an associate professor at the University of Auckland. Harbison was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2021 and in the same year was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Academic career Harbison grew up in Oxford, but went to university in Liverpool, partly because of her favourite football team. In 1985 she completed a PhD titled Studies on carnation mottle virus at the University of Liverpool's Department of Biochemistry and the John Innes Centre, supervised by Professor Michael Wilson. Harbison credits Wilson with giving her the confidence to take a postdoctoral position at the University of Auckland, where she worked on the genomics of white clover mosaic virus and genetic modification of clover to breed virus-resistant plants. In 1988 Harbison moved to the chemistry division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, where she moved into forensic biology. Her work involved crime scene examinations and evidence analysis, such as blood group identification and RNA and DNA profiling, and she worked on the first murder case to be solved using the DNA Profile Databank in 1999. Harbison oversees the DNA profile databank use for cold cases, which has seen convictions in the murder of Teresa Cormack and the 2001 murder of Marie Jamieson. She has supervised more than 60 Masters and PhD students.

Awards Harbison was awarded a New Zealand Science and Technology medal in 1996. In the New Years Honours of 2021 she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for services to forensic science. Also in 2021 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society Te Apārangi. Her nomination said "SallyAnn Harbison has led the research and development of significant advances and innovation in forensic DNA and RNA analysis. [She] is recognised internationally for providing casework-ready, accredited science for the justice sector derived from her research activities."

Selected works

A Larkin; S Harbison (1 January 1999). "An improved method for STR analysis of bloodstained denim". International Journal of Legal Medicine. 112 (6): 388–390. doi:10.1007/s004140050020. ISSN 0937-9827. PMID 10550601. Wikidata Q73154376. Rachel I Fleming; SallyAnn Harbison (14 December 2009). "The development of a mRNA multiplex RT-PCR assay for the definitive identification of body fluids". Forensic Science International: Genetics. 4 (4): 244–256. doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2009.10.006. ISSN 1872-4973. PMID 20457026. Wikidata Q46828495. Clare Brookes; Jo-Anne Bright; SallyAnn Harbison; John Buckleton (8 March 2011). "Characterising stutter in forensic STR multiplexes". Forensic Science International: Genetics. 6 (1): 58–63. doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2011.02.001. ISSN 1872-4973. PMID 21388903. Wikidata Q58836704. Angela J Hough; Sally-Ann Harbison; Marion G Savill; Laurence D Melton; Graham Fletcher (1 August 2002). "Rapid enumeration of Listeria monocytogenes in artificially contaminated cabbage using real-time polymerase chain reaction". Journal of Food Protection. 65 (8): 1329–1332. doi:10.4315/0362-028x-65.8.1329. ISSN 0362-028X. PMID 12182489. Wikidata Q74618710. Rachel I Fleming; SallyAnn Harbison (19 January 2010). "The use of bacteria for the identification of vaginal secretions". Forensic Science International: Genetics. 4 (5): 311–315. doi:10.1016/j.fsigen.2009.11.008. ISSN 1872-4973. PMID 20457059. Wikidata Q43550962. Marsilea Adela Booth; Robert Vogel; James M. Curran; SallyAnn Harbison; Jadranka Travas-Sejdic (11 February 2013). "Detection of target-probe oligonucleotide hybridization using synthetic nanopore resistive pulse sensing". Biosensors and Bioelectronics. 45: 136–140. doi:10.1016/j.bios.2013.01.044. ISSN 0956-5663. PMID 23455053. Wikidata Q45143442.

References

External links Harbison's new fellow's seminar at the Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2021 Interview on Radio New Zealand in 2010

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with SallyAnn Harbison

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what SallyAnn Harbison claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to SallyAnn Harbison before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about SallyAnn Harbison ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of SallyAnn Harbison

In research: SallyAnn Harbison appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses SallyAnn Harbison in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: SallyAnn Harbison is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Academic staff of the University of Auckland, Alumni of the University of Liverpool, Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for SallyAnn Harbison outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study SallyAnn Harbison in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what SallyAnn Harbison means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain SallyAnn Harbison out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is SallyAnn Harbison in simple terms?

Why does SallyAnn Harbison matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study SallyAnn Harbison?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on SallyAnn Harbison.