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6 from 84 citations 

Last updated 23rd March 2026

Dr Daniel Hunt is a Senior Lecturer in Forensic and Investigative Psychology and the Acting Subject Leader in Psychology. Dr Hunt graduated from the University of Huddersfield in 2014 with a first-class undergraduate honours degree in Psychology. He continued his studies at the University of Huddersfield and graduated in 2015 with a distinction in MSc Investigative Psychology. His MSc dissertation explored the behavioural and psychological narrative roles of missing adults and missing children. Dr Hunt also completed his PhD in 2019 in which his thesis explored the effectiveness of missing children publicity appeals. This research explored the factors associated with improving the effectiveness of missing children publicity appeals for the descriptions used in appeals, the type and number of photographs used in appeals, the type of design of the appeals, and factors associated with why people do or do not contact the police to report a potential sighting of a missing child.

Dr Hunt has supervised several PhD students to completion and has supervised over 100 MSc research projects. He is currently supervising PhD projects associated with missing persons, facial recognition, the language used within terrorist manifestos, criminal narratives, offender spatial behaviour, and lone wolf terrorism. Dr Hunt has also examined numerous PhD progressions, has served as an internal PhD examiner, and as an external PhD examiner for Fielding Graduate University, California, USA.

Dr Hunt's main research interests focus primarily on missing persons and offender narratives of crime. Other research interests include geographical offender profiling, prospective person memory, eyewitness testimony, facial recognition, problematic gambling, misinformation, terrorism, child sexual exploitation, criminal behaviour, stalking, deception, juror decision making, and the own-race and other-race bias effect.

Dr Hunt has also presented his research at numerous local, national, and international conferences to academics, policy makers, practitioners, and within numerous police forces. He has also consulted with a number of police forces relating to aspects associated with missing persons and criminal narratives.