Rate My Professor Karen Shalev

Professor Karen Shalev is Professor of Missing Persons Studies at the University of Portsmouth, where she has worked since 2004. She serves as Director of the Centre for the Study of Missing Persons and is co-editor in chief of the International Journal of Missing Persons. She previously served in the Israeli Air Force Intelligence from 1991 to 1993. Shalev earned a B.A. in Criminology and English literature from Bar Ilan University in Israel in 1997, followed by an MSc in Investigative Psychology from the University of Liverpool in 1999 and a PhD in Investigative Psychology in 2004. Her early research after completing her doctorate focused on the spatial decision making of property offenders before shifting in 2008 to missing persons, leading to the founding of the Centre in 2012.

Shalev’s research interests encompass all areas relating to missing persons, including establishing the cost of investigations, international best practices, child rescue alerts, people missing abroad, definitions of missing persons, the impact of publicity appeals, safeguarding unaccompanied migrant minors, the role of carers in searches for those living with dementia, and media bias in coverage. She has acted as lead editor of a seminal book on missing persons and supervises PhD and Professional Doctorate students on topics such as risk assessment of missing adults, return interviews, social media use in cases, and dementia-related missing persons. She teaches undergraduate modules in criminology, psychology, and missing persons and contributes to distance learning modules on the master’s programme. Shalev collaborates on applied research projects with police agencies, forces, NGOs, and academics in the UK and internationally to improve services for missing people and their families.