Gareth Mitchell

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

Gareth Mitchell
Gareth Mitchell in Tallinn (2017)
Born (1970-08-15) 15 August 1970[1]
Eastleigh, England
NationalityWelsh
OccupationTechnology broadcaster, science communicator
WebsiteTwitter, Facebook (official)

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 has a brother named Julian.[9]

He was a member of the computer society at school (Welshpool High School) and participated in bellringing[10] and organ playing[11] 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."[12] Because of that, after getting his engineering degree and relevant work,[13] he took up an MSc in Science Communication, also at Imperial, a decision which made his parents concerned at the time.[14]

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,[15] BBC's flagship technology TV programme, but a visit to a radio studio at Bush House got him obsessed about radio journalism.[16] 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.[17][18] Occasionally, he had also presented Science in Action and The Science Hour on the BBC World Service, and on TV Click.[19]

He presents on the BBC most notably as the host of Digital Planet (previously known as Click[20] and Go Digital[21][22][23]) a BBC radio programme broadcast worldwide on the BBC World Service with Bill Thompson.[2] From time to time, he is a stand-in presenter for BBC Inside Science on BBC Radio 4. Additionally, Mitchell had written for the Q & A section of the BBC (Science) Focus Magazine and regularly hosted their podcast[24] from 2008 to 2017.

Lecturing

Mitchell has lectured at Imperial College London since 1998 in broadcast and written journalism on the Science Communication Unit[25][26] since 2000[27] or 2002.[28] 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.[29][30]

He emceed TEDx Imperial.[31] He has attended the World Economic Forum[32] and has hosted workshops, discussion panels and conferences on science and technology.[13][33][34]

Personal life

Apart from the bells and the organ, other instruments Mitchell could play are the piano/keyboard[35] and guitar.[36] He rides motorcycles,[37][38] can fly a plane,[39] and is a licensed amateur radio operator since August 2019.[40][3] One of his intriguing inventions was reviving the clocks[30][41] he'd bought at an auction for items from Bush House, the BBC World Service's former headquarters. He misses the pubs.[42]

References
  1. "40th birthday tweet by @GarethM". 2010-08-15. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
  2. "BBC World Service - Click". BBC. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  3. "M7GJM". 2019-10-23. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  4. Gareth Mitchell, Bill Thompson (2014-01-14). "BBC Click Radio". bbc.co.uk (Podcast). BBC. Archived from the original on 2014-01-16. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  5. "Local Man and the Radio 4 toilet drama!". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  6. "how funny I was brought up in Montgomeryshire". Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  7. "[Grew up in] Powys; BBC Science Focus podcast, December 2013". Archived from the original on 2014-02-13. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
  8. "BBC World Service - Over to You, How the Podcast is Changing Listening Habits". 2018-04-21. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  9. "Julian C. Mitchell as Gareth's brother". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  10. "BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Drones for Good". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  11. "I learned the church organ for a while". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  12. "BBC Digital Planet (Gareth's bio)". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  13. "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". Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  14. "How to transition from the lab to full-time science communicator". Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  15. "Short Science Podcast 010 : Elizabeth Hauke and Georgie Gould : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  16. "Bye Bye Bush House Boo". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  17. "Host Bios & Pictures: BBC World Service". apmstations.org. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
  18. "The Lab - BBC World Service Archive". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  19. "BBC News - Meet the Click Team". Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  20. "BBC - The Editors: Click and Digital Planet merge". Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  21. "Go Digital - BBC World Service Archive Project". Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  22. "Go Digital: Your digital world". Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  23. "BBC NEWS - Technology - BBC launches Digital Planet". Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  24. "Science Focus Podcast". Science Focus - BBC Focus Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  25. "People/Contact, Science Communication Unit, Imperial College London". Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  26. "Mr Gareth Mitchell". Imperial College London. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
  27. "I joined the Science Communication Unit in 1998 part time and became full time in 2000". Archived from the original on 2020-06-12. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  28. "I joined the Science Communication Group academic staff in 1998 part time and became full time in 2002". Archived from the original on 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  29. "Gareth being interviewed by the 'Speaking of Science' podcast". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  30. "Part 2 of Gareth's interview at 'Scientists not the Science'". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  31. Douglas Heaven. "Gareth Mitchell - mouthpiece". Mouthpiece.douglasheaven.com. Retrieved 2014-01-15.
  32. "Gareth Mitchell - World Economic Forum". Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  33. "Plenary Panel, Wealth of Networks 2008 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  34. "FutureFest". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  35. "Nate Lee-Wolf Newman: "after seeing Gareth play the theme on piano"". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  36. "p.160-162, Instructional Strategies to Improve Women's Attitudes toward Science". hdl:10919/27000. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  37. "Japan Motorbike Tour 2014". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  38. "Japan Bike Trip 2019". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  39. "finally to Biggin Hill for flying lesson". Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  40. "Interview: Online Learning & Exam - Essex Ham". Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  41. "Bush House clock". Retrieved 2020-08-13.
  42. "Podcast outro confession". Retrieved 22 January 2021.
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