Coleg Cambria to host popular BBC Blue Planet talk

THE story behind one of the world’s great nature and wildlife programmes is coming to Coleg Cambria.

Blue Planet II: The science behind the BBC series will take place at the college’s Deeside Sixth Form Centre tomorrow (Wednesday) from 6pm.

Professor Mark Brandon and Dr Philip Sexton will lead a public lecture explaining the workings of the award-winning show, fronted by Sir David Attenborough and co-produced by the Open University (OU).

Tickets for the talk sold out within two weeks, but fans of the programme will be able to tune in via a livestream.

Professor Brandon and Dr Sexton have spent years working in oceans all around the world including Antarctica, the Atlantic and the Arctic.

Most recently, they were part of the OU academic team working on Blue Planet II.

Using breakthroughs in marine science and cutting-edge technologies, the series brought viewers face-to-face with compelling stories from the Earth’s oceans.

Professor Brandon said: “Phil and I are both really looking forward to this discussion. It was a great experience talking to the Blue Planet II team about our findings during production, and we look forward to sharing this with the audience and our online followers.

“We’ll be looking at ocean circulation, the ecosystem, and the fantastic animals that live there. The seas are critical to our planet’s climate, and there are things we can all do to the lower the human impact on them.”

Louise Casella, director of The OU in Wales, added: “The OU celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. As part of the celebrations, we’re opening-up our work through a series of engaging events across Wales, including six major Open Talks.

“We want to introduce some fascinating subjects arising from OU academic research to a wider public in Wales and share some of the back stories to our more familiar co-productions with the BBC.”

Cambria Chief Executive David Jones said it was an honour for the north east Wales college to host one of the much-anticipated events.

“We are delighted that the Open University are hosting an exciting Open Talk event at our Deeside Sixth Form Centre to mark the beginning of their 50^th anniversary celebrations,” he said.

“It will be a unique opportunity for members of the public and our staff and students to meet and hear from the incredible researchers.”  

The Open University in Wales’ Open Talks lecture series is supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) as part of the University’s Civic Mission project.

Updates on the OpenTalks series are available on www.open.ac.uk/wales/en/events and by following @OUCymru on Twitter.

Follow @colegcambria or visit www.cambria.ac.uk for more on Coleg Cambria.