Gareth Mitchell

Mitchell was born Gareth James Mitchell{{Cite web |title=M7GJM |website=Facebook |url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/4287320286/permalink/10162359081890287/ |date=2019-10-23 |access-date=2019-10-23}} in Eastleigh, England to a Welsh father,{{Cite podcast |url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/digitalp/digitalp_20140114-2050a.mp3 |title=BBC Click Radio |website=bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC |host=Gareth Mitchell, Bill Thompson |date=2014-01-14 |access-date=2014-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116122157/http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/worldservice/digitalp/digitalp_20140114-2050a.mp3 |archive-date=2014-01-16 }} Colin Mitchell.{{cite web |title=Local Man and the Radio 4 toilet drama! |url=http://www.mywelshpool.co.uk/viewernews/ArticleId/215 |access-date=2020-08-09}} He spent his childhood in Montgomeryshire,{{cite web |title=how funny I was brought up in Montgomeryshire. |website = Facebook|url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/4287320286/permalink/10163227753735287/?comment_id=10163260711055287&__tn__=R |access-date=6 November 2020}} Powys, Wales.{{cite web |title=[Grew up in] Powys; BBC Science Focus podcast, December 2013|url=http://sciencefocus.com/sites/all/modules/ms_core/ms_podcast/templates/download.php?file=http://d2j7noxmrt3xhh.cloudfront.net/bbcfocusmagazine/audio/focus_262_qanda.mp3 |archive-url = 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|access-date=13 August 2020|archive-date = 2014-02-13}} When Gareth was seven, his father lit up a bulb with a closed circuit, and that sparked his interest in science.{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service - Over to You, How the Podcast is Changing Listening Habits |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswlyn |date=2018-04-21 |access-date=2020-08-09}}

He was a member of the computer society at school (Welshpool High School) and participated in bellringing{{cite web |title=BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Drones for Good |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02hrf5q |access-date=2020-08-09}} and organ playing{{cite web |title=I learned the church organ for a while. |url=https://twitter.com/GarethM/status/1288222764 |access-date=2020-08-09}} 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."{{cite web |title=BBC Digital Planet (Gareth's bio) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p002w6r2 |access-date=2020-08-09}} Because of that, after getting his engineering degree and relevant work, he took up an MSc in Science Communication, also at Imperial.{{cite journal |title=How to transition from the lab to full-time science communicator |year=2020 |doi=10.1038/d41586-020-01676-z |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01676-z |access-date=2020-08-13|last1=Amer |first1=Pakinam |journal=Nature |pmid=34083804 |s2cid=226196072 |url-access=subscription }}

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,{{cite web |title=Short Science Podcast 010 : Elizabeth Hauke and Georgie Gould : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming: Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/ElizabethHaukeandGeorgieGouldShortSciencePodcast010 |access-date=2020-08-09}} BBC's flagship technology TV programme, but a visit to a radio studio at Bush House got him obsessed about radio journalism.{{cite web |title=Bye Bye Bush House Boo |url=https://audioboom.com/posts/710564-bye-bye-bush-house-boo |access-date=2020-08-09}}{{failed verification|date=May 2023}} 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

His first hosting role on the BBC was for the youth science program, The Lab.{{Cite web |title=Host Bios & Pictures: BBC World Service |url=http://www.apmstations.org/promotion/hosts/hosts.php?pgm_code=bws |website=apmstations.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150204164726/http://www.apmstations.org/promotion/hosts/hosts.php?pgm_code=bws |archive-date=4 February 2015 |access-date=4 February 2015}}{{failed verification|date=May 2023}}{{cite web |title=The Lab - BBC World Service Archive |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0344vs1 |access-date=2020-08-09}} Occasionally, he had also presented Science in Action and [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p016tmt2 The Science Hour] on the BBC World Service, and reported on the television programme Click.{{cite web |title=BBC News - Meet the Click Team |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/meet_the_team/default.stm |access-date=2020-08-13}}

He presented on the BBC most notably as the host of Digital Planet (previously known as Click{{cite web |title=BBC - The Editors: Click and Digital Planet merge |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2011/03/click_and_digital_planet_merge.html |access-date=2020-08-13}} and Go Digital{{cite web |title=Go Digital - BBC World Service Archive Project |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0397ckb |access-date=2020-08-13}}{{cite news |title=Go Digital: Your digital world |date=2 November 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/1478157.stm |access-date=2020-08-13}}{{cite news |title=BBC NEWS - Technology - BBC launches Digital Planet |date=27 March 2006 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4843062.stm |access-date=2020-08-13}}) a BBC radio programme broadcast worldwide on the BBC World Service with Bill Thompson until its end in March 2023. During his time on the show he interviewed people such as Jimmy Wales,{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service - Digital Planet, Jimmy Wales on bots and blockages |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct31zv |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} Stephen Fry,{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service - Tech Life: 'I sacrificed my soul' - a Facebook moderator's story, Stephen Fry's Digital Life |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0275ywc |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} Professor Dame Wendy Hall,{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service - Tech Life: 'I sacrificed my soul' - a Facebook moderator's story, 20/10/2009 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004l2hz |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} Martyn Ware,{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service - Tech Life: 'I sacrificed my soul' - a Facebook moderator's story, A Holocaust Survivor's Digital Doppelgänger |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswhd2 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} Feargal Sharkey,{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service - Tech Life: 'I sacrificed my soul' - a Facebook moderator's story, 11/11/2008 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w0btv70k |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} Jean Michel Jarre{{Cite web |title=BBC World Service - Tech Life: 'I sacrificed my soul' - a Facebook moderator's story, Data Ethics Monitoring |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswhf8 |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=BBC |language=en-GB}} and Vint Cerf.{{Cite web |title=Digital planet - Open University Digital Archive |url=https://www.open.ac.uk/library/digital-archive/program/audio:5747095878d05 |access-date=2023-04-23 |website=www.open.ac.uk}} From time to time, he is a stand-in presenter for [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036f7w2 BBC Inside Science] on BBC Radio 4. Additionally, Mitchell wrote for the Q&A section of [https://www.sciencefocus.com BBC (Science) Focus Magazine] and hosted the Q&A podcast{{Cite web |title=Science Focus Podcast |url=https://www.sciencefocus.com/podcast/ |website=Science Focus - BBC Focus Magazine |access-date=2020-08-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130421091656/https://www.sciencefocus.com/podcast/ |archive-date=21 April 2013 }} 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{{Cite web |title=The Gareth and BillCast |url=http://garethandbillcast.com/ |access-date=2023-04-20 |website=garethandbillcast.com |language=en}} as well as Mitchell presenting ""Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast"{{Cite web |date=2023-11-19 |title=Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast - Reviews - Podcast Rex |url=https://podcastrex.com/reviews/somewhere-on-earth-the-global-tech-podcast |access-date=2023-12-13 |website=podcastrex.com |language=en}}

Mitchell has lectured at Imperial College London since 1998 in broadcast and written journalism on the Science Communication and Science Media Production MSc programmes {{cite web |title=People/Contact, Science Communication Unit, Imperial College London |url=http://www.imperial.ac.uk/science-communication-unit/peoplecontact/ |access-date=2020-08-13}}{{Cite web |title=Mr Gareth Mitchell |url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/g.mitchell |publisher=Imperial College London |access-date=2019-12-04}} since 2000{{cite web |title=I joined the Science Communication Unit in 1998 part time and became full time in 2000. |url=http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/g.mitchell |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612042627/http://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/g.mitchell |access-date=2020-08-13|archive-date=2020-06-12 }} and 2002 respectively.{{cite web |title=I joined the Science Communication Group academic staff in 1998 part time and became full time in 2002.|url=http://www.imperial.ac.uk:80/people/g.mitchell |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022114642/http://www.imperial.ac.uk:80/people/g.mitchell |access-date=2020-08-13|archive-date=2019-10-22 }} He also presents the [https://www.imperial.ac.uk/be-inspired/social-and-multimedia/podcasts/ 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.{{cite web |title=Gareth being interviewed by the 'Speaking of Science' podcast |date=7 January 2013 |url=http://speakingofscience.juliegould.net/science-communication/speaking-to-gareth-mitchell/ |access-date=2020-08-09}}{{cite web |title=Part 2 of Gareth's interview at 'Scientists not the Science' |date=7 March 2016 |url=https://www.scinotsci.com/episodes/2016/3/6/ep23-scientists-on-the-radio-part-2-gareth-mitchell |access-date=2020-08-09}}

He emceed TEDx Imperial.{{Cite web |title=Gareth Mitchell - mouthpiece |url=http://mouthpiece.douglasheaven.com/tag/gareth-mitchell/ |last=Douglas Heaven |publisher=Mouthpiece.douglasheaven.com |access-date=2014-01-15 |archive-date=16 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116141715/http://mouthpiece.douglasheaven.com/tag/gareth-mitchell/ |url-status=dead }} He has attended the World Economic Forum{{cite web |title=Gareth Mitchell - World Economic Forum |url=https://www.weforum.org/people/gareth-mitchell |access-date=9 August 2020}} and has hosted workshops, discussion panels and conferences on science and technology.{{cite web |title=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. |url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/events/99588/science-communication/ |access-date=2020-08-13}}{{cite web |title=Plenary Panel, Wealth of Networks 2008 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming: Internet Archive |url=https://archive.org/details/Improbulus-PlenaryPanelWealthOfNetworks2008907-2 |access-date=2020-08-09}}{{cite web |title=FutureFest |url=https://futurefest.org/speaker/gareth-mitchell/ |access-date=2020-08-09}}

At Imperial he has cofounded, and now runs, the "Science Media Diversity Scholarship".{{Cite web |title=Funding |url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/admin-services/centre-for-languages-culture-and-communication/science-communication-unit/msc-programmes/funding/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=Imperial College London |language=en-GB}} 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.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

As well as broadcasting and lecturing Mitchell is a host and facilitator at big events with clients such as the European Commission, OECD,{{Citation |last=Development |first=OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and |title=OECD FORUM 2019 |date=2019-05-20 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/oecd/46975334095/ |access-date=2023-05-05}}{{Citation |last=Development |first=OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and |title=OECD 2016 Forum: Lunch Debate: The Algorithmic Society |date=2016-05-31 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/oecd/27277141962/ |access-date=2023-05-05}} World Economic Forum,{{Cite web |title=Gareth Mitchell |url=https://www.weforum.org/people/gareth-mitchell/ |access-date=2023-05-05 |website=World Economic Forum |language=en}} Wellcome Trust, and Nesta.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}

Apart from the bells and the organ, other instruments Mitchell can play are the piano and keyboard.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}}{{cite thesis |degree=PhD |pages=160–162 |title=Instructional Strategies to Improve Women's Attitudes toward Science |publisher=Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University |date=22 March 2005 |hdl=10919/27000 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/10919/27000 |access-date=2020-08-09|last1=Newbill |first1=Phyllis Leary }} He rides motorcycles, has taken flying lessons, and has been a licensed amateur radio operator since August 2019.{{cite web |title=Interview: Online Learning & Exam - Essex Ham |url=https://www.essexham.co.uk/online-learning-and-exam.html |access-date=2023-04-03}} 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{{cite web |title=Bush House clock |website = YouTube| date=22 August 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN-h8tcF4pM |access-date=2020-08-13}} 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.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://youtube.com/user/GarethDigitalPlanet Gareth Mitchell's YouTube videos]
• [http://www.open.edu/openlearn/profiles/guest-195 Gareth's OpenLearn articles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007144056/http://www.open.edu/openlearn/profiles/guest-195 |date=7 October 2013 }} for the Open University
• [https://www.sciencefocus.com/author/garethmitchell/ Gareth Mitchell's articles for BBC Science Focus Magazine]
• {{Twitter}}

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Category:Living people

Category:Welsh journalists

Category:Academics of Imperial College London

Category:People from Eastleigh

Category:BBC World Service presenters

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Category:1970 births

Category:BBC Radio 4