Thomas Swearingen

Thomas Swearingen

Ph.D. Candidate, Computer Science · Michigan State University

I am a Ph.D. candidate in the iPRoBe Lab at Michigan State University, advised by Prof. Arun Ross. My research is in biometric recognition and computer vision: face recognition, deepfake detection, and hand biometrics.

I also work with researchers outside computer science, applying machine learning to problems in their fields: forensic identification with anthropologists, child-exploitation investigations with criminologists, and online wildlife trade with conservation biologists. I am a co-author of the second edition of Introduction to Biometrics (Springer).

Current research

All projects →

Michigan State University · 2026–present

Dorsal Hand Matching for CSEA Investigations

An automated tool that matches images of the back of the hand using knuckle creases, to support child sexual exploitation and abuse investigations.

University of Adelaide / MSU · since 2019

Biometric Analyzer and Network Explorer (BANE)

Face and voice recognition to find recurring individuals across seized video, image, and audio evidence, so investigators have to view less explicit content directly.

with A. Dantcheva and C. Rathgeb · 2026

Deepfake Detection in Surveillance Footage

CCDF, a benchmark of real and generated surveillance-style videos for testing whether deepfake detectors hold up outside curated web content.

University of Adelaide · 2023–2025

Mapping the Online Wildlife Trade

With conservation biologists, helping map Australia’s online trade in elephant ivory and invertebrate pets.

Selected publications

All publications →

  • CCDF: A Benchmark Dataset for Deepfake Detection in Real-World Surveillance Footage

    B. Chopin, T. Swearingen, A. Ross, A. Dantcheva, and C. Rathgeb

    arXiv:2610.07939, 2026

    arXiv

  • Introduction to Biometrics, Second Edition

    A. K. Jain, A. A. Ross, K. Nandakumar, and T. Swearingen

    Springer, 2024

    Springer Book website

  • Advancing Child Sexual Abuse Investigations Using Biometrics and Social Network Analysis

    R. Brewer, B. Westlake, T. Swearingen, S. Patterson, D. Bright, A. Ross, K. Logos, and D. Michalski

    Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, No. 668, 2023

    PDF

  • Lookalike Disambiguation: Improving Face Identification Performance at Top Ranks

    T. Swearingen and A. Ross

    International Conference on Pattern Recognition (ICPR), 2021

    PDF

  • Spoofing Faces Using Makeup: An Investigative Study

    C. Chen, A. Dantcheva, T. Swearingen, and A. Ross

    IEEE International Conference on Identity, Security and Behavior Analysis (ISBA), 2017

    Best Paper Runner Up PDF