Miss Emma Somerville

Emma is a PhD (Psychology) candidate at the University of Newcastle, specialising in legal psychology and the application of psychological evidence to improve decision‑making within the Australian justice system. Her research spans public attitudes toward coercive control, community understanding of intimate partner violence, and the ways misinformation and misconceptions shape legal outcomes. She is particularly interested in how psychological science can strengthen the accuracy, fairness, and integrity of legal processes, especially in cases involving complex or sensitive evidence.

Emma’s work focuses on improving legal decision‑making through evidence‑based interventions and education. She investigates how jurors interpret information, how myths and misinformation influence verdicts, and how psychological insights can support more systematic, unbiased evaluations of evidence. Her Honours thesis, completed at the University of Newcastle in 2024, examined jury decision‑making in sexual violence trials, and continues to inform her broader interest in justice‑focused reform.

As a mixed‑methods researcher, Emma draws on both quantitative and qualitative approaches, as well as evidence‑synthesis techniques, to understand how people reason, judge, and make decisions within legal contexts. She is driven by a principled commitment to ensuring that legal outcomes are fair, accurate, and grounded in psychological science. She believes that education is one of the most effective tools for addressing misinformation, improving community understanding of crime, and supporting decision‑makers to follow the law impartially.

Alongside her doctoral research, Emma works as an AskUON Officer, a role she has held since 2022.