Contact Luna Starling
Background
Luna Starling is a Lecturer in Systems Thinking and doctoral researcher at Cranfield University. Her academic interests span systems thinking, organisational psychology, criminology, language and human behaviour, with a particular emphasis on evidence, reasoning and decision-making under conditions of uncertainty.
She has experience in teaching and module leadership across Cranfield's systems thinking programmes, including professional and postgraduate education. Her teaching interests encompass systems theory, complexity, analytical reasoning and the application of systems approaches to organisational and policy challenges.
Her principal research interest is linguistic deception detection. Her doctoral research examines the theoretical foundations of Scientific Content Analysis (SCAN), investigating the assumptions underpinning the technique and subjecting propositions derived from its underlying theory to empirical investigation.
Luna holds an MSc in Organisational Psychology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), a BSc in Criminology and International Relations from the University of the West of England (UWE), and a Diploma in Communicative Arabic from SOAS, University of London. Her undergraduate education also included study at Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States and the University of the West Indies in Barbados.
Her developing research interests include the psychological, behavioural and linguistic dimensions of human trafficking and online child protection.
Research opportunities
Luna's principal research focuses on the theoretical foundations and empirical investigation of linguistic deception detection, particularly Scientific Content Analysis (SCAN). Her doctoral work examines how linguistic observations are interpreted as indicators of deception and investigates the theoretical assumptions and evidential basis of such inferences.
Her wider research interests include the psychological and linguistic dimensions of human trafficking and online child protection, alongside dehumanisation, learning and memory, and collective intelligence methodologies.
A recurring theme across these interests is the relationship between language, cognition, evidence and interpretation, particularly where judgements must be made under conditions of uncertainty.
Current activities
Luna is currently undertaking doctoral research into the theoretical foundations of Scientific Content Analysis (SCAN), developing and empirically investigating propositions derived from the technique's underlying theory.
Alongside her doctoral research, she teaches and contributes to module delivery in systems thinking and related subjects at Cranfield University.