Rate My Professor Sasha Voss

Dr. Sasha Voss is a lecturer in forensic entomology based at the Centre for Forensic Anthropology at the University of Western Australia. She holds a PhD from the University of Western Australia and serves as an Adjunct Research Fellow in the School of Biological Sciences. Her career includes a Graduate Research Assistant position in the Arbovirus Research and Surveillance Laboratory at UWA and casual teaching across multiple disciplines. Voss's research centers on medical and veterinary entomology, emphasizing forensic applications. She studies the behavior, physiology, and ecology of insects in decomposition environments, including the use of parasitic wasps as postmortem interval indicators, factors influencing insect succession on remains, novel assessments of insect developmental stages, and phenotypic plasticity in blowflies. A primary goal is to improve the accuracy of entomological estimates of time since death in forensic investigations. Her work also addresses biological control of agricultural pests and fly pollination in horticulture, such as avocado crops, with investigations into mass rearing techniques for blowflies like Calliphora dubia and Calliphora vicina using plant-based diets.

Voss has produced 35 research outputs, comprising 25 articles, 4 review articles, 1 chapter, and 1 edited volume. Key publications include 'Decomposition and insect succession of clothed and unclothed carcasses in Western Australia' (2011), analyzing clothing effects on insect colonization; 'Annual and seasonal patterns of insect succession on decomposing piglet carcasses in an urban environment of Western Australia' (2009); and 'Hymenopteran parasitoids of forensic importance: a review' (2009). Recent contributions encompass 'Pollination of Enclosed Avocado Trees by Blow Flies (Diptera: Calliphoridae) and a Hover Fly (Diptera: Syrphidae)' (2025), 'Can the Necrophagous Blow Fly Calliphora vicina (Diptera: Calliphoridae) Be Reared on Plant-Based Meal?' (2024), 'Maggots cannot live on meat meal alone: production parameters for mass rearing of the ovoviviparous blowfly, Calliphora dubia (Diptera: Calliphoridae)' (2024), and 'Manipulating larval rearing media to optimise mass production of the blow fly Calliphora vicina (Diptera: Calliphoridae)' (2024). Her scholarship has received over 1,094 citations, advancing forensic entomology and sustainable insect rearing practices.