George McGavin

McGavin attended Daniel Stewart's College, a private school in Edinburgh,{{cite web|date=13 August 2015|title=Biological Sciences – Alumni – George McGavin|url=https://www.ed.ac.uk/biology/alumni/george-mcgavin|publisher=The University of Edinburgh}} then studied Zoology at the University of Edinburgh from 1971 to 1975, followed by a PhD in entomology at Imperial College, London. He went on to teach and research at the University of Oxford.[http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/biology/alumni/george-mcgavin University of Edinburgh] biography. He is Honorary Research Associate at Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the Department of Zoology of Oxford University, where he lists his interests as "Terrestrial arthropods especially in tropical forests, caves and savannah. Public understanding of science. Exploration."{{cite web|url=http://www.zoo.ox.ac.uk/staff/academics/mcgavin_g.htm|title=Staff: Academic|publisher=Department of Zoology, University of Oxford|accessdate=13 July 2011}} He is also a visiting professor of entomology at the University of Derby.

McGavin is a Fellow of the Linnean Society and of the Royal Geographical Society, and has several insect species named in his honour.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/content/articles/2008/04/01/bugman_feature.shtml|title=Bug man|publisher=BBC |accessdate=25 July 2011}}{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/4079371.insect-champion/|title=The insect champion|last=Vetta|first=Sylvia|date=27 January 2009|work=Oxford Times|accessdate=28 November 2021}} He was previously Assistant Curator of Entomology at Oxford University's Museum of Natural History.{{cite web|url=http://groupspaces.com/ouec/item/1992|title=Dr George McGavin – Expedition Borneo|publisher=Oxford University Exploration Club|accessdate=13 July 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/support/2006-07.pdf |title=Oxford University Museum of Natural History Annual Report 2006–2007 |publisher=Oxford University Museum of Natural History |accessdate=22 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110809133907/http://www.oum.ox.ac.uk/support/2006-07.pdf |archivedate=9 August 2011}}

McGavin has lectured at the Cheltenham Science Festival, given the Royal Geographical Society children's Christmas lecture and contributes to their Schools Programme. He won Earthwatch's "Irreplaceable – The World's Most Invaluable Species" debate, broadcast on BBC Radio 4, in 2008{{cite web|url=http://www.earthwatch.org/europe/newsroom/science/news-3-result1.html|title=Bees declared the winners in Earthwatch's own Strictly Come Species battle|date=21 November 2008|accessdate=25 July 2011}} and he is a lecturer on board Cunard ships.{{cite web|url=http://wearecunard.com/2010/03/50-days-around-the-world-on-queen-mary-2/|title=50 DAYS AROUND THE WORLD ON QUEEN MARY 2|last=Shanks|first=Peter|date=2 March 2010|publisher=Cunard|accessdate=25 July 2011}} In 2017 he gave the Royal Entomological Society's Verrall Lecture speaking on 'Tales from television: an entomologist's perspective'{{cite web |title=2017 Verrall Lecturer |url=https://www.royensoc.co.uk/verrall-lecture |website=royensoc.co.uk |date=21 October 2020 |publisher=Royal Entomological Society}}

He is a patron of the charity Wildscreen,{{cite book|title=WildScreen Annual Review 2010|url=http://www.wildscreen.org.uk/downloads/AnnualReview2010.pdf|accessdate=11 July 2011|publisher=Wildscreen|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110715110342/http://www.wildscreen.org.uk/downloads/AnnualReview2010.pdf|archive-date=15 July 2011|url-status=dead}} of the Bees, Wasp and Ants Recording Scheme and of the Alderney Records Centre;,{{cite web|url=http://www.alderneywildlife.org/pages/about.php?pg=whoswho|title=Who|publisher=Alderney Wildlife Trust|accessdate=16 July 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007113401/http://www.alderneywildlife.org/pages/about.php?pg=whoswho|archivedate=7 October 2011}} he is president of Dorset Wildlife Trust{{Cite web|url=https://www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk/covidrecovery|title=In conversation with our President Dr George McGavin | Dorset Wildlife Trust|website=www.dorsetwildlifetrust.org.uk}} and is a Global Ambassador for Earthwatch.

He enjoys eating insects, which he describes as "flying prawns".

McGavin was a presenter for the BBC and Discovery Channel US series Expedition Borneo (2007), and was co-presenter of the BBC series Expedition, for which he has conducted three expeditions: Lost Land of the Jaguar (2008), Lost Land of the Volcano (2009), and Lost Land of the Tiger, in Bhutan (2010).{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2010/09_september/20/tiger.shtml |title=BBC team discovers "lost" tigers |publisher=BBC Press Office |date=20 September 2010}} He is also a regular contributor to The One Show (BBC1) and has appeared on the Richard & Judy show to cook and eat insects.{{cite web|url=http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayContent&id=00000001727 |title=Dr George McGavin |publisher=Royal Institution |accessdate=25 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211042906/http://www.rigb.org/contentControl?action=displayContent&id=00000001727 |archivedate=11 February 2012}}

He was Series Consultant and a contributor on Infested (Granada/ITV, 2002) and was the Chief Scientific Consultant for the David Attenborough series Life in the Undergrowth.

His other TV appearances include What's up Doc? (STV), Tomorrow's World (BBC), Package Holiday Undercover (ITV), Facing the Music (BBC), Take One Museum (Channel 4) and various national and local news programmes.

His programme Afterlife: The Science of Decay was screened by the BBC on 6 December 2011.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/03_march/30/afterlife.shtml|title=Afterlife|date=30 March 2011|work=BBC Online Press Office|accessdate=16 July 2011}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012w66t|title=Afterlife: The Science of Decay|work=BBC Online|accessdate=8 May 2012}}

From July 2011, another BBC programme, The Dark, about the nocturnal activities of animals, was produced.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/07_july/08/natural_history.shtml|title=BBC unveils new natural history commissions|date=8 July 2011|work=BBC Online press office|accessdate=16 July 2011}} This started transmission on BBC2 on 29 July 2012 and on BBC HD a day later. In October 2012, he appeared, with co-presenter Dr Alice Roberts in the BBC series Prehistoric Autopsy.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00xfdmt|title=Prehistoric Autopsy|work=BBC Online|accessdate=23 October 2012}} In 2013 he presented Planet Ant: Life Inside the Colony. In 2014, he presented Monkey Planet and a two-part series on BBC Four: Dissected: The Incredible Human Hand and Dissected: The Incredible Human Foot.Radio Times 22–28 February 2014

In October 2017, McGavin presented a one-off BBC documentary Oak Tree: Nature's Greatest Survivor.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06fq03t|title=BBC Four - Oak Tree: Nature's Greatest Survivor|website=BBC}}

In 2018 McGavin and Zoe Laughlin made a BBC Four documentary The Secret Life of Landfill: A Rubbish History, exploring the fate and future of rubbish deposited in landfill sites.{{cite news |last1=Walton |first1=James |title=I had no idea how fascinating rubbish could be: The Secret Life of Landfill reviewed |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/08/i-had-no-idea-how-fascinating-rubbish-could-be-the-secret-life-of-landfill-reviewed/ |accessdate=7 September 2018 |work=The Spectator |date=25 August 2018}}{{cite web |title=The Secret Life of Landfill: A Rubbish History |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bgpc2f |publisher=BBC Four |accessdate=7 September 2018}} He also presented Nature's Turtle Nursery: Secrets from Inside the Nest.{{cite web |title= Nature's Turtle Nursery: Secrets from the Nest |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0b7st0z |publisher=BBC Four |accessdate=8 December 2022}}

In 2020, McGavin and Helen Czerski presented a 90-minute BBC Four documentary called Ocean Autopsy: The Secret Story of Our Seas which concerned the changes both in North Sea and in the world's oceans.{{cite web |title=Ocean Autopsy: The Secret Story of Our Seas |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000jy2l#:~:text=Oceanographer%20Dr%20Helen%20Czerski%20and,place%20in%20the%20world's%20oceans.&text=In%20unprecedented%20ways%2C%20humans%20are,seas%20and%20the%20life%20within |publisher=BBC Four |accessdate=21 October 2020}}

In 2024, McGavin made a guest appearance in the promotion leading up to the release of Helldivers 2, playing a scientist in a comedic advertisement for the game.{{Cite web |title=Helldivers 2 {{!}} Super Earth News Presents: Dr. George McGavin On Bugs |url=https://www.gamespot.com/videos/helldivers-2-super-earth-news-presents-dr-george-mcgavin-on-bugs/2300-6463382/ |access-date=2024-03-28 |website=GameSpot |language=en-US}}

McGavin was the guest on the long-running Desert Island Discs a BBC Radio 4 programme on 7 February 2021, hosted by Lauren Laverne, where he talked about the challenge he faced in his childhood with a severe stutter.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000s163|title=BBC Radio 4 - Desert Island Discs, George McGavin, entomologist and broadcaster|website=BBC}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.psy.ox.ac.uk/research/speech-brain-research-group/research-projects/developmental-stuttering-stammering/stuttering-segment-on-the-one-show|title="The One Show" about stuttering — Department of Experimental Psychology|website=www.psy.ox.ac.uk}}

• {{cite book|last=McGavin|first=George C.|author-mask=2|title=Discovering Bugs|date=1988|publisher=Discovering Bugs}}
• {{cite book|last=McGavin|first=George C.|author-mask=2|title=Insects of the Northern Hemisphere|date=1992|publisher=Dragon's World|location=Limpsfield & London}}
• {{cite book|last=McGavin|first=George C.|author-mask=2|title=Bugs of the World|date=1993|publisher=Blandford Press}}
• {{cite book|last1=McGavin|first1=George C.|author-mask=2|last2=Simpson |first2=S. J. |title=The Right Fly |date=1996 |location=London |publisher=Aurum Press}}
• {{cite book|last1=McGavin|first1=George C.|author-mask=2|last2=Simpson |first2=S. J. |title= The Angler's Fly Identifier |publisher=Running Press Book Publishers |location= Philadelphia |date=1996}}
• {{cite book|last=McGavin|first=George C.|author-mask=2|title=Expedition Field Techniques: Insects and other terrestrial arthropods|date=1997|publisher=Royal Geographical Society|location=London}}
• {{cite book|last1=McGavin|first1=George C.|author-mask=2|last2=Simpson |first2=S. J. |title= Angler's Flies |publisher=Apple Press |date=1997}}
• {{cite book|last=McGavin|first=George C.|author-mask=2|title=Dorling Kindersley Handbooks: Insects, spiders and other terrestrial arthropods|date=2000|publisher=Dorling Kindersley}}
• {{cite book|last=McGavin|first=George C.|author-mask=2|title=Essential Entomology: an order by order introduction|date=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press}}
• {{cite book|last=McGavin|first=George C.|author-mask=2|title=Dorling Kindersley Pocket Nature: Insects and Spiders|date=2005|publisher=Dorling Kindersley}}
• {{cite book|last=McGavin|first=George C.|author-mask=2|title=Endangered: wildlife on the brink of extinction|date=2006|publisher=Cassell Illustrated}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{IMDb name|2141372}}
• [http://eden.uktv.co.uk/people/dr-george-mcgavin/ George McGavin on Eden]
• [http://www.jowandermanagement.com/clients/georgemcgavin.shtml George McGavin at Jo Wander Management]
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/collections/p00bf3fy George's marvellous minibeasts] (BBC)
• [http://cdn.bbcmagazinesbristol.com/bbcwildlife/audio/Podcasts/BBC_Wildlife_Oct10.mp3 BBC Wildlife Magazine podcast featuring guest appearance by McGavin] (mp3)

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Category:British entomologists

Category:Alumni of Imperial College London

Category:British television presenters

Category:Academics of the University of Derby

Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

Category:Fellows of the Linnean Society of London

Category:Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society

Category:Fellows of the Royal Entomological Society

Category:Entomological writers

Category:20th-century British explorers

Category:21st-century British explorers

Category:Living people

Category:1954 births

Category:People from Glasgow