Gareth Mitchell Explained

Gareth Mitchell
Birth Date:15 August 1970[1]
Birth Place:Eastleigh, England
Nationality:Welsh
Occupation:Technology broadcaster, science communicator
Website:Twitter, Facebook (official)

Gareth Mitchell is a Welsh technology journalist, lecturer and former broadcast engineer.[2]

Early life

Mitchell was born Gareth James Mitchell[3] in Eastleigh, England to a Welsh father,[4] Colin Mitchell.[5] He spent his childhood in Montgomeryshire,[6] Powys, Wales.[7] When Gareth was seven, his father lit up a bulb with a closed circuit, and that sparked his interest in science.[8]

He was a member of the computer society at school (Welshpool High School) and participated in bellringing[9] and organ playing[10] at his local church. As an undergraduate studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London, Mitchell joined campus radio working behind the scenes, but saw that "[t]he people who seemed to be having all the good fun were the creative types in the studios."[11] Because of that, after getting his engineering degree and relevant work, he took up an MSc in Science Communication, also at Imperial.[12]

Broadcasting

Mitchell joined the BBC during the mid-1990s, starting his career as a broadcast engineer. His initial dream was to be part of Tomorrow's World,[13] BBC's flagship technology TV programme, but a visit to a radio studio at Bush House got him obsessed about radio journalism.[14] Mitchell eventually decided to trade climbing TV and radio transmitter towers for science and technology journalism. He had worked for Radio Netherlands on science programmes.

His first hosting role on the BBC was for the youth science program, The Lab.[15] [16] Occasionally, he had also presented Science in Action and The Science Hour on the BBC World Service, and reported on the television programme Click.[17]

He presented on the BBC most notably as the host of Digital Planet (previously known as Click[18] and Go Digital[19] [20] [21]) a BBC radio programme broadcast worldwide on the BBC World Service with Bill Thompson until its end in March 2023.[2] During his time on the show he interviewed people such as Jimmy Wales,[22] Stephen Fry,[23] Professor Dame Wendy Hall,[24] Martyn Ware,[25] Feargal Sharkey,[26] Jean Michel Jarre[27] and Vint Cerf.[28] From time to time, he is a stand-in presenter for BBC Inside Science on BBC Radio 4. Additionally, Mitchell wrote for the Q&A section of BBC (Science) Focus Magazine and hosted the Q&A podcast[29] from 2008 to 2017.

After the end of Digital Planet, in April 2023, Mitchell and Thompson returned with a new technology podcast, The Gareth and BillCast[30] as well as Mitchell presenting ""Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast"[31]

Lecturing

Mitchell has lectured at Imperial College London since 1998 in broadcast and written journalism on the Science Communication and Science Media Production MSc programmes [32] [33] since 2000[34] and 2002 respectively.[35] He also presents the Imperial College Podcast. The key event leading to his appointment as a radio tutor was a bet in a pub over a Guardian job advertisement for that role.[36] [37]

He emceed TEDx Imperial.[38] He has attended the World Economic Forum[39] and has hosted workshops, discussion panels and conferences on science and technology.[40] [41] [42]

At Imperial he has cofounded, and now runs, the "Science Media Diversity Scholarship".[43] The award covers tuition fees and London living costs for a year, for a student from a minority ethnic group. The Science Media Diversity Scholar also completes an internship at one of the sponsoring television production companies.

Facilitator

As well as broadcasting and lecturing Mitchell is an host and facilitator at big events with clients such as the European Commission, OECD, World Economic Forum,[44] Wellcome Trust, and Nesta.

Personal life

Apart from the bells and the organ, other instruments Mitchell can play are the piano and keyboard.[45] He rides motorcycles, has taken flying lessons, and has been a licensed amateur radio operator since August 2019.[46] with his call sign M7GJM. He continues to use his engineering skills by for example has developing a way to provide the required signal needed for the studio clocks[47] he'd bought at an auction for items from Bush House, the BBC World Service's former headquarters, he did this by making a Master clock from a microcontroller called an Arduino.

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 40th birthday tweet by @GarethM . 2010-08-15 . 2019-10-25.
  2. Web site: BBC World Service - Click . . 2014-01-15.
  3. Web site: M7GJM . . 2019-10-23 . 2019-10-23.
  4. BBC Click Radio . bbc.co.uk . BBC . . 2014-01-14 . 2014-01-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140116122157/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/digitalp/digitalp_20140114-2050a.mp3 . 2014-01-16 .
  5. Web site: Local Man and the Radio 4 toilet drama! . 2020-08-09.
  6. Web site: how funny I was brought up in Montgomeryshire. . Facebook. 6 November 2020.
  7. Web site: [Grew up in] Powys; BBC Science Focus podcast, December 2013]. https://web.archive.org/web/20140213185511/http://sciencefocus.com/sites/all/modules/ms_core/ms_podcast/templates/download.php?file=http://d2j7noxmrt3xhh.cloudfront.net/bbcfocusmagazine/audio/focus_262_qanda.mp3. 13 August 2020. 2014-02-13.
  8. Web site: BBC World Service - Over to You, How the Podcast is Changing Listening Habits . 2018-04-21 . 2020-08-09.
  9. Web site: BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Drones for Good . 2020-08-09.
  10. Web site: I learned the church organ for a while. . 2020-08-09.
  11. Web site: BBC Digital Planet (Gareth's bio) . 2020-08-09.
  12. How to transition from the lab to full-time science communicator . 2020 . 10.1038/d41586-020-01676-z . 2020-08-13. Amer . Pakinam . Nature . 34083804 . 226196072 .
  13. Web site: Short Science Podcast 010 : Elizabeth Hauke and Georgie Gould : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming: Internet Archive . 2020-08-09.
  14. Web site: Bye Bye Bush House Boo . 2020-08-09.
  15. Web site: Host Bios & Pictures: BBC World Service . apmstations.org . https://web.archive.org/web/20150204164726/http://www.apmstations.org/promotion/hosts/hosts.php?pgm_code=bws . 4 February 2015 . 4 February 2015.
  16. Web site: The Lab - BBC World Service Archive . 2020-08-09.
  17. Web site: BBC News - Meet the Click Team . 2020-08-13.
  18. Web site: BBC - The Editors: Click and Digital Planet merge . 2020-08-13.
  19. Web site: Go Digital - BBC World Service Archive Project . 2020-08-13.
  20. News: Go Digital: Your digital world . 2 November 2005 . 2020-08-13.
  21. News: BBC NEWS - Technology - BBC launches Digital Planet . 27 March 2006 . 2020-08-13.
  22. Web site: BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Jimmy Wales on bots and blockages . 2023-04-23 . BBC . en-GB.
  23. Web site: BBC World Service - Tech Life: 'I sacrificed my soul' - a Facebook moderator's story, Stephen Fry's Digital Life . 2023-04-25 . BBC . en-GB.
  24. Web site: BBC World Service - Tech Life: 'I sacrificed my soul' - a Facebook moderator's story, 20/10/2009 . 2023-04-25 . BBC . en-GB.
  25. Web site: BBC World Service - Tech Life: 'I sacrificed my soul' - a Facebook moderator's story, A Holocaust Survivor's Digital Doppelgänger . 2023-04-25 . BBC . en-GB.
  26. Web site: BBC World Service - Tech Life: 'I sacrificed my soul' - a Facebook moderator's story, 11/11/2008 . 2023-04-25 . BBC . en-GB.
  27. Web site: BBC World Service - Tech Life: 'I sacrificed my soul' - a Facebook moderator's story, Data Ethics Monitoring . 2023-04-25 . BBC . en-GB.
  28. Web site: Digital planet - Open University Digital Archive . 2023-04-23 . www.open.ac.uk.
  29. Web site: Science Focus Podcast . Science Focus - BBC Focus Magazine . 2020-08-09 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130421091656/https://www.sciencefocus.com/podcast/ . 21 April 2013 .
  30. Web site: The Gareth and BillCast . 2023-04-20 . garethandbillcast.com . en.
  31. Web site: 2023-11-19 . Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast - Reviews - Podcast Rex . 2023-12-13 . podcastrex.com . en.
  32. Web site: People/Contact, Science Communication Unit, Imperial College London . 2020-08-13.
  33. Web site: Mr Gareth Mitchell . . 2019-12-04.
  34. Web site: I joined the Science Communication Unit in 1998 part time and became full time in 2000. . https://web.archive.org/web/20200612042627/http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/g.mitchell . 2020-08-13. 2020-06-12 .
  35. Web site: I joined the Science Communication Group academic staff in 1998 part time and became full time in 2002.. https://web.archive.org/web/20191022114642/http://www.imperial.ac.uk:80/people/g.mitchell . 2020-08-13. 2019-10-22 .
  36. Web site: Gareth being interviewed by the 'Speaking of Science' podcast . 7 January 2013 . 2020-08-09.
  37. Web site: Part 2 of Gareth's interview at 'Scientists not the Science' . 7 March 2016 . 2020-08-09.
  38. Web site: Gareth Mitchell - mouthpiece . Douglas Heaven . Mouthpiece.douglasheaven.com . 2014-01-15 . 16 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140116141715/http://mouthpiece.douglasheaven.com/tag/gareth-mitchell/ . dead .
  39. Web site: Gareth Mitchell - World Economic Forum . 9 August 2020.
  40. Web site: After a few years working in broadcast and telecoms engineering, he gave it all up and returned to Imperial to pursue the MSc in Science Communication. . 2020-08-13.
  41. Web site: Plenary Panel, Wealth of Networks 2008 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming: Internet Archive . 2020-08-09.
  42. Web site: FutureFest . 2020-08-09.
  43. Web site: Funding . 2023-04-25 . Imperial College London . en-GB.
  44. Web site: Gareth Mitchell . 2023-05-05 . World Economic Forum . en.
  45. PhD . 160–162 . Instructional Strategies to Improve Women's Attitudes toward Science . Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University . 22 March 2005 . 10919/27000 . 2020-08-09. Newbill . Phyllis Leary .
  46. Web site: Interview: Online Learning & Exam - Essex Ham . 2023-04-03.
  47. Web site: Bush House clock . YouTube. 2020-08-13.

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