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Chris Packham

Extraordinarily creative and prolific, Chris Packham has led a remarkable life. He’s gained recognition as a naturalist, television presenter, writer, photographer, conservationist, campaigner and filmmaker.

Broadcasting
Chris presents the BBC’s BAFTA award-winning long running series Springwatch and Winterwatch for which he is perhaps best known. He recently presented the multi award-winning series Inside our Autistic Minds for BBC Two and Channel 4’s Time to Break the Law.

He has also presented notable natural history series such as Earth, Nature’s Weirdest Events, World’s Weirdest Events, World’s Sneakiest Animals, Cats v Dogs, The Burrowers, Inside the Animal Mind, Operation Iceberg and Secrets of our Living Planet. He has also been a guest on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

During lockdown, he formed the free-to-view Self-Isolating Bird Club with his stepdaughter, Megan McCubbin.

Chris’ television presenting career began with the award winning ’Really Wild Show’ in 1986. He went on to present a string of other wildlife based shows including  ‘Wildshots’, ‘Wild Watch’, ‘Go Wild’, ‘X-Creatures’, ‘Postcards from the Wild’, ‘Hands on Nature’ and ‘Nature’s Calendar’.

Books
Chris’s autobiography, Fingers in the Sparkle Jar: A Memoir, received critical acclaim, reaching No 1 in The Sunday Times Bestsellers in just two weeks and was featured as a Radio 4 Book of the Week. He has also written Amazing Animal Journeys, telling the story of the annual migration of animals around the world, from butterflies to whales.

His first photography book, 100 Things That Caught My Eye, was published in 2014 – an eclectic collection of his photographs accompanied by his thoughts and insights as he captured each shot.

Campaigning
A leading campaigner, Chris has always been active and vocal about wildlife and conservation issues and injustice. He is a vociferous opponent of the badger cull and a leading campaigner in the call to ban driven grouse shooting. In September 2019 Chris organised the UK’s first march for wildlife – The People’s Walk for Wildlife, London.

Chris is an ambassador for numerous wildlife and environmental NGOs and organises his own independent campaigns and actions. He campaigns for just transitions towards positive environmental necessities – from fossil fuels to renewable energies, from industrial and intensive animal agriculture to plant-based alternatives, from chemical dependent to regenerative farming, and from declining biodiversity to nature recovery. He is a passionate and vocal vegan.

Awards
Chris has received numerous awards including the Dilys Breese British Trust for Ornithology Medal for “his outstanding work in promoting science to new audiences”, Conservation Hero of the Year at the Birders’ Choice Awards organised by Birdwatch magazine and was named Britain’s second most influential conservation heroes in The Wildlife Power List featured in BBC Wildlife magazine. He is also a recipient of The Christopher Parsons Award for Outstanding Achievement in recognition of his significant contribution to wildlife filmmaking, conservation and the public’s understanding of the environment.

He has been made an honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Southampton, his alma mater.

Chris was appointed a CBE in the 2019 New Year’s honours list for services to wildlife and nature conservation.

He lives in the New Forest with his partner Charlotte and his two poodles, Sid and Nancy. His mantras are ‘winning is not giving up’ and ‘shout above the noise’.

Megan McCubbin

Megan McCubbin is one of the nation’s leading wildlife presenters, combining her expertise as a scientist with a love of adventure and a passion for raising awareness of climate issues and biodiversity.

Megan is best known as one of the faces of BBC Two’s long-running and BAFTA award-winning series Springwatch and Winterwatch.
In 2022 she joined the presenting team of BBC One’s Animal Park, bringing a new conservation angle to the much-loved longstanding TV show. She has also presented BBC Three’s Undercover Tourist, CBBC’s Planet Defenders, Al Jazeera’s award-winning Earthrise, BBC Earth’s Amaze me and BBC Two’s Chris & Meg’s Wild Summer. Megan also hosted the BBC Proms Earth Day concert in 2022 which featured Hans Zimmer and Aurora.

Megan has presented films for ITV’s This Morning and appeared on Morning Live (BBC One), Steph’s Packed Lunch (Channel 4), BBC Bitesize and BBC Radio.
She co-presents and produces the podcast series The Frogs Bollocks with James Stevens, an entertaining and engaging way to bring a new audience to natural history.

During lockdown she co-founded the Self Isolating Bird Club YouTube series with Chris Packham. Her first book, Back To Nature, was published in 2020, co-authored with Chris. It highlights the state of nature conservation in the UK and serves as a reminder of the importance of protecting it. In 2023, Megan wrote Atlas of Endangered Species highlighting the global conservation of species balancing on the brink of extinction, and the book provides the basis for her live theatre tour.

Megan has extensive experience in scientific research, filmmaking and photography around the World on the plains of Africa, the oceans surrounding the UK, the glaciers of Antarctica and beyond.

Megan is an accomplished public speaker and has given talks at COP26, the Cornwall Ecological Summit, local theatres and schools. She has co-hosted the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards at the Natural History Museum since 2020.

Megan graduated with a BSc degree in Zoology from the University of Liverpool in 2018. Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, she worked hard and excelled in field work and communication. In between her studies, she spent time volunteering to aid research and charity organisations around the world. This included working as a behavioural intern in China to rehabilitate bears from the bear bile farming industry and researching the personalities and ecology of shark species at Bimini Sharklab in the Bahamas. Megan has experience and knowledge working in various scientific fields and communicating complex scientific concepts to wider audiences.

Megan is President of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust and Patron of the Winchester Science Centre and Helping Rhinos. She is an Ambassador for the RSPB, WWF, the League Against Cruel Sports, Rainforest Concern, the Beaver Trust, Global Animal Welfare, the Scottish Seabird Centre, the Wild Otter Trust, Thin Green Line UK, the National Oceanography Centre and Made By Dyslexia.

Max Johnson

Max has lived in Hong Kong and China for more than 15 years and is fluent in Russian, Polish, Mandarin and French. He has worked in international business for many years as commodity trader, investment banker, and entrepreneur setting us his own company MJ Capital in 2018 specialising cross-border M&A deals in emerging markets.

Max’s spirit of adventure led him to spend two months in China, travelling across the country with his father Stanley Johnson, filming In the Footsteps of Marco Polo – a 4 part documentary series following Marco Polo’s route across China. In the series, for international distribution, Max interviewed contributors, presented pieces to camera (scripted and unscripted) and gained experience of working on a large overseas production.

Max’s first appearance on camera was as a child actor in Julian Fellowes’ BBC production of The Prince and the Pauper and he still has a love of acting.

A keen runner, Max completed the Pyongyang Marathon and also has a black belt in Taekwondo.

Jasmine Takhar

Nottingham-born Jasmine Takhar is the host of BBC Introducing and the Weekend Breakfast show on BBC Asian Network and for music platform ‘Scene Not Heard’.

Jasmine began her radio career at 18 whilst she studied BA (Hons) Media with Creative Industries at Nottingham Trent University. Although this was her first step into the media industry she developed a passion for music long before this. Jasmine grew up listening to various genres of music, collecting Vinyl’s and began playing instruments at the age of 15 as she spent most of her younger years going to festivals and establishing connections at music events.

Growing up with a great knowledge of music helped Jasmine realize her dream of working in radio whilst studying for her degree. During this time, Jasmine began her radio career at Nottingham’s first official Urban station, 97.5 Kemet FM, where she also received a qualification in radio skills and went on to present 5 shows a week (The Afternoon Show 1-4pm).

After graduating, she decided to gain momentum within her radio career by presenting a show on London’s Westside Radio. The station recognised Jasmine’s unique natural talent on the microphone and approached her to present 5 shows a week. At this point, Jasmine was presenting 10 shows a week in 2 different cities, travelling up and down the country in order to try and make her passion into a career.

During her years at Westside, Jasmine pushed her ambition to work within radio a step further by focusing on DJing and working alongside radio personalities in the US, where she had the opportunity to go to 99 Jamz, Miami’s number 1 urban radio station in one of the largest radio markets in the country. As Jasmine’s determination to succeed became more apparent to those around her, she continued to elevate her career by interviewing some of the biggest superstars in the US including Jamie Foxx, Tinashe, Keri Hilson, Bobby Valentino, Joe Torry and UK artists such as Mez, Big Tobz, Moelogo, Shide Boss, Mic Lowry and Lemar.

Shortly after this, Jasmine was approached by the BBC to take on and present a brand new show launching on a national radio station, BBC Asian Network. After successfully presenting ‘The Friday Night Residency’ and covering various other shows across the station in 2017, she was then offered the Weekend Breakfast Show that she is currently presenting. In 2021, Jasmine’s passion for and strong connection to new UK artists was recognised when she was announced as the new host of the ‘BBC Introducing’ show on BBC Asian Network. She received a nomination for radio show of the year for the show from the Music Week Awards 2022.

Jasmine has hosted various events around the country including BBC Introducing at Glastonbury and at R1’s Big Weekend as well as the Nottingham Carnival, Bobby Valentino’s tour, Riverside Festival and Summer Jam, an urban event that took place at the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, which held a capacity of 10,000 people.

In recent years, Jasmine has expanded her portfolio of live presenting work by becoming the official host for Trent Rockets at the inaugural ‘The Hundred’ cricket competition. She also made her debut on BBC One during the tournament.

Jasmine also heads up the project ‘Scene Not Heard’. A platform dedicated to providing a voice for unsigned rap, grime and R&B artists from outside of the capital. Founded, created and run by Jasmine, Scene Not Heard has become a significant industry voice through in-depth interviews, freestyles and ciphers.

Professor Michael Scott

Michael is a Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick, author and broadcaster.

Michael wrote and presented the BBC2 series Ancient Invisible Cities: Cairo, Athens, and Istanbul which transmitted in autumn 2018. Alongside exploring hidden parts of these cities – abseiling, diving and caving to access locations, some of which have never before been seen on TV.

Michael worked with a team of 3D laser scanners bringing these locations to life in Virtual Reality, taking viewers on a journey through the history and development of these cities like never before. The Daily Express review said “This is properly exciting state of the art History TV”.

This was the third instalment in the Invisible Cities series, following Michael’s discoveries (co-presented with Xander Armstrong) in Italy’s Invisible Cities: Venice, Naples, Florence (BBC1 – 2017) and Rome’s Invisible City (BBC1 – 2015).

In addition, Michael has written and presented numerous other documentaries for the BBC and for ITV, National Geographic and SBS, Australia.

He presented a two-part series for BBC2 on the history of Sicily, Sicily: The Wonder of the Mediterranean, uncovering the Phoenician, Greek, Roman, Arab, and Norman influences on the island, as well as tackling its on-going Mafia problems and its new role in the front line facing mass migration from Libya.

For SBS Australia he wrote and presented a four-part series This is Greece taking viewers to some of his favourite locations across the Greek mainland and the islands, exploring their history and modern culture.

On Radio Michael wrote and presented two series of Spin the Globe for Radio 4, in which he took dates made famous by particular events in one part of the world and explored what else was happening around the world at that time.

Michael co-presented Roman Britain from the Air for ITV, in which he and Christine Bleakley discovered how the Romans conquered and lived in Britain, as well as how they continue to influence our country today.

Michael wrote and presented, as well as co-produced, through his production company Nostos Productions Ltd, a three-part series for BBC4 The Greatest Show on Earth: Ancient Greek Theatre, in conjunction with the Open University.
He wrote and presented a two part series, Guilty Pleasures, on the history of Luxury in the ancient and Medieval worlds for BBC4 along with a documentary on Delphi: the bellybutton of the world for BBC4.

In the same year, he also wrote and presented a two-part series for BBC2 Who Were the Greeks, exploring the nature and influence of the ancient Greek world.

In 2012, he presented a documentary investigating an unusual ancient mass burial event discovered under the streets of Rome in The Mystery of Rome’s X-Tombs, working with French and German scholars using cutting-edge technology to uncover the identities of the dead and the cause of their death. WHO WAS THIS FOR?

On National Geographic Michael presented a three part series on the development of Christianity within the Roman world.

Michael is the youngest full Professor appointed by the Faculty of Arts at Warwick University. He has also won the UK’s highest award for University level teaching – a National Teaching Fellowship – and has won numerous national and university awards for his teaching as well as for his work in outreach and widening participation.

His research interests span the ancient Greek and Roman worlds (about which he has published several academic and trade books), and also the Silk Roads connecting the Mediterranean, Asia, India and China in Antiquity (the subject of his most recent book Ancient Worlds). He has also recently won a Leverhulme Research Fellowship to study ancient global interaction.

In 2015, he was made an honorary citizen of Delphi, Greece in recognition of both his scholarly and engagement work focused on the city and sanctuary. He is also President of Lytham Saint Annes Classical Association, the largest branch of the Classical Association in the country. He is passionately committed to ensuring access to the study of the ancient world for all, and has succeeded in attracting funding for the Warwick Classics Network, a project he directs in conjunction with national Charity Classics for All, working with schools across the Midlands.

He writes regularly for national and international newspapers and magazines, and has taught in the UK, US, Brazil, China and Greece.

Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe

Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe was the most senior police officer in the UK. He led the Metropolitan Police, an organisation of nearly 50,000 people with a budget of £3.2 billion. He was directly accountable to the Home Secretary, supervised by parliamentary committees and had national responsibilities, which included leading counter terrorism policing throughout the UK and protecting the Royal Family and senior members of the government both at home and abroad.

He has used his expertise to report for Dispatches on Channel 4. In 2018, he presented Dispatches – Cannabis: Time to End the Ban? In the programme, Bernard travelled to Colorado, to see if the UK police should follow in Colorado’s footsteps and legalise cannabis. This programme lead to Bernard’s calling for the UK government to establish an expert commission to examine the evidence provided by the programme.
In 2019, he presented Dispatches – Britain’s Knife Crime Crisis: Young, Armed and Dangerous, which investigated Britain’s knife crime crisis. In the programme, Bernard came face to face with a masked gang member carrying a blade.

Bernard’s career has been characterised by high achievement, having successfully delivered numerous strategic objectives and efficiency improvements while holding weighty appointments with substantial responsibilities. He has a wealth of experience in creating cultural change, developing and implementing new strategies to transform corporate identities. He has built his success on the simple strategy of Total Policing. This involves a war on crime and care for victims.

As Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and Chief Constable of Merseyside he delivered significant reductions in crime during his 5 years tenure. In London 20% and Merseyside 36%. In both regions he reduced the murder rates, in London by 25%. In London despite a loss of £600 million of budget he uniquely maintained police officer numbers while the rest of England and Wales lost 20,000 police.

When he took command of the Metropolian Police, the capital city of 8.4 million people was in a state of shock caused by the large scale riots of 2011. The organisation itself was in crisis having lost half the Management Board. Despite these challenges and with a limited timescale of only a few months he planned and delivered a safe city, a safe Olympics and saved £600 million.

During the next five years, the national threat level was set at ‘severe’ and attacks occurred throughout Europe, however only one terrorist attack got through during his command. He has continued to build the UK police and Security Service partnership, which is recognised as the best in the world with its profound links to neighbourhood based community policing.

Bernard has extensive experience of policing major public events. These include the successful 2012 Olympics Games, 2008 Liverpool European City of Culture, State Visits, The State Opening of Parliament, many major sporting events and multiple large scale public political protests on the streets of London.

Bernard was made a life peer in October 2017 and has since taken up his role as a crossbencher in the House of Lords.

Bernard enjoys horse riding and all equestrian activities. He has a passion for football, playing five a side and supporting Sheffield Wednesday. In addition he has a love of opera.

Stanley Johnson

Broadcaster, journalist, author, conservationist – Stanley Johnnson’s achievements are numerous, traveling the world in pursuit of animal welfare and spearheading environmental projects. Stanley has had many books published and regularly writes for newspapers and magazines on a range of topics – from politics and travel to society at large. He appears frequently on television and radio, guesting on news, current affairs and feature programmes. Stanley was part of the primetime BBC Two documentary A Week in the Wild, where three celebrities took on the iconic challenge of exploring Mexico’s famous Copper Canyon. He also featured in Channel 4’s recent series The Baby Boomer’s Guide to Growing Old.

Stanley was born in Cornwall in August 1940, and was educated at Ravenswood School, near Tiverton, Devon, Sherborne School, Dorset, and studied at Exeter College, Oxford, where he won a Stapeldon Scholarship in Classics. Since 1951 his family has farmed on Exmoor, on the Devon-Somerset border, and Stanley still manages the farm there today. He also has a home in London.

On leaving Oxford in 1963, Stanley was awarded a Harkness Fellowship to the United States in 1963. He is a former Conservative member of the European Parliament (MEP) where he served (1979-1984) as Vice Chairman of the Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection. He has also worked in the European Commission (1973-1979) as Head of the Prevention of Pollution division and (1984-1994) as Senior Adviser to DG Environment and as Director of Energy Policy. Before joining the Commission, Stanley served on the staff of the World Bank and the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

Stanley has been an adviser to Price Waterhouse Coopers, a director of ERM, an environmental consultancy, a trustee of the Earthwatch Institute and Plantlife International and an environmental adviser to Jupiter Asset Management. He is currently Honorary President of the Gorilla Organisation (www.gorillas.org) and an Ambassador for the United Nations Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) (http://www.cms.int/)

He has had eleven books published dealing with environmental issues, including the Politics of the Environment, the Earth Summit and the Environmental Policy of the European Communities. He has also had nine novels published, including The Commissioner which was made into a film starring John Hurt. Stanley’s book, Where The Wild Things Were, is a collection of travel and environmental journalism.

The first volume of his memoir “Stanley I Presume” was published to critical acclaim (‘hilarious and rip-roaring’) in 2009.  The second volume: “Stanley I Resume: further recollections of an exuberant life” was published in 2014.

Stanley’s most recent publication, Kompromat, a satirical thriller was published in 2017 and is being developed for television.

In 1984 he was awarded the Greenpeace Prize for Outstanding Services to the Environment and in the same year the RSPCA Richard Martin award for services to animal welfare. In 2014, he received the WWF Silver Medal, and in 2015 he also received the RSPB Medal and WWF-International’s Leader of the Living Planet Award for his work on the EU Habitats Directive and Natura 2000, the Europe-wide network of protected areas. In 1962 he won the Newdigate Prize for Poetry.

Stanley has four children by his first marriage to the painter Charlotte Johnson-Wahl: Boris, Rachel, Leo and Joseph. He also has two children, Julia and Maximilian, by his second marriage to Jennifer.

Julian Richards

Dr Julian Richards is an archaeologist with over 40 years of experience of fieldwork and excavation, a writer and presenter on television and radio. An acknowledged expert on Stonehenge and Britain’s prehistoric past Julian devised, researched and presented seven series of the popular Meet the Ancestors (BBC 2) and the five part Blood of the Vikings (BBC 2) for both of which he wrote accompanying books. He also presented six series of Mapping the Town on Radio 4, and designed the award winning Hunt the Ancestor game for the BBC History website.

Julian also presented a four-part series, Stories from the Dark Earth: Meet the Ancestors Revisited which aired on BBC4.

Julian lives in Dorset where he maintains his special interests in Stonehenge, the history of ceramics and old cars.

Julian is also an experienced and entertaining after dinner speaker (his life in archaeology is summed up in ‘A career in ruins’) and an Arts Society lecturer.

John Dickie

John Dickie is Professor of Italian Studies at University College London. He is the author of the best-sellers Cosa Nostra. A History of the Sicilian Mafia (+/- a million copies sold, translated into 21 languages) and Delizia! The Epic History of the Italians and their Food (translated into 10 languages, winner of several prizes), as well as many other books and articles on diverse aspects of Italian history, including natural disasters, national identity, the Catholic church, and bandits. He has a high public profile in Italy, particularly as an expert on organized crime and Italian food.

John’s most recent book is the widely reviewed and acclaimed The Craft: How the Freemasons made the Modern World, which hit the best-seller lists in several countries and has been translated into 10 languages. A new, updated edition of Delizia! The Epic History of the Italians and their Food, complete with an ecstatic endorsement by Stanley Tucci, is due in the bookshops for Christmas 2023.

John presented The Mafia’s Secret Bunkers (BBC2, 2013). Since then, he has presented and co-written a trilogy of documentaries on the problems of the Catholic church: Holy Money (2014); The Cross and the Gun (2015); and Behind the Altar (2017). In 2016 his book Delizia! was turned into a 6-part series (Eating History: Italy—or De gustibus in Italy), presented and co-written by John. The series aired right round the world, apart from the UK. In Italy, it was History Channel Italia’s second most popular programme of the year.

For several years John hosted the Barilla Pasta World Championships, held over three days in Milan and Parma. In 2010 he was a judge in the Pesto World Championships in Genoa. In 2021, he hosted the San Pellegrino Young Chef Academy in Milan. He appears regularly on TV, radio and other media across the world to comment on his areas of expertise.

In 2005, the President of the Italian Republic appointed John a Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana (Commander of the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity), a senior civil honour.

John presents and writes both in English and Italian.

Mary-Ann Ochota

Mary-Ann is a familiar presence on national and international television and radio, presenting for networks including the BBC, Channel 4, Discovery, National Geographic and Smithsonian. She has written and presented radio documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, and hosted podcasts for Audible, Wiley and the BBC.

Mary-Ann used her archaeological and science journalism expertise co-presenting the popular Smithsonian series Mystic Britain and got hands on with historic boats for BBC Two’s Britain Afloat and walked in the footsteps of the ancients on the Ridgeway trail for BBC’s Countryfile. Mary-Ann presented Secrets of Stonehenge for English Heritage, is a regular on History’s Ancient Top 10 and Ancient Impossible, and was co-presenter on the penultimate series of cult archaeology show, Time Team. She’s the co-host of the sci comm podcast This Study Shows, for Wiley, now in its third series.

As an anthropologist, her empathy and insight into human behaviour and culture come to the fore. This summer she was Walking the Iron Curtain for the BBC World Service, discovering the legacy of the border for people and wildlife. For Living on the Roof of the World (Discovery Networks) Mary-Ann spent seven weeks filming with herders, farmers and pilgrims on the high Tibetan plateau. She was also part of the presenting team for Time of Xi (Discovery Asia), exploring the realities of life in modern China. For BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service, she has investigated male circumcision (Why We Cut Men), the global sanitation scandal (A Dirty Secret), and met the military veterans using archaeology to recover their mental health (Open Country: Exercise Shallow Grave). Expedition documentaries for Animal Planet have taken her to the Chernobyl nuclear exclusion zone (Life After: Chernobyl), and to investigate real cases of extraordinary child survival in Fiji, Uganda and Ukraine (Raised Wild).

Trusted as an warm, informed and agile interviewer, Mary-Ann has chaired public events for museums and institutes including the Science Museum, British Museum and Royal Institution, and presented her own work at literary, science and culture festivals, including Chip Lit, How the Light Gets In and HistFest. She’s also in demand for corporate work, and offers specific expertise in equity, diversity and inclusion.

Mary Ann’s forthcoming book, The Briefest History of Humanity will be published in 2024 by Pan Macmillan. It explores the science of ourselves – from lowly origins, our species has been so wildly successful, we’ve inadvertently transformed the planet, both for ourselves and all other life on Earth. How did humans do it, was it inevitable, and what might the journey so far tell us about the road ahead?

Mary-Ann’s previous books have celebrated archaeology for a wide readership: Secret Britain profiles mysterious sites and artefacts from around the country; Hidden Histories: A Spotter’s Guide to the British Landscape, reveals the history of the countryside, with tips on identifying everything from burial mounds and ancient trails to historic pubs. It was shortlisted in the Current Archaeology Awards, and selected as a New Statesman Book of the Year.

Mary-Ann regularly previews the papers for Sky News, reports and presents for ITN Business, has contributed to BBC News and BBC Radio 4’s From Our Own Correspondent. She writes a regular column for TGO outdoors magazine, and has features regularly commissioned for publications including the Telegraph, Guardian, Countryfile Magazine, BBC Wildlife Magazine and The Week Junior.

Mary Ann is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, and a Hill Walking Ambassador for the British Mountaineering Council. She is a trustee of the John Muir Trust, the wild places charity, a patron of the Ridgeway National Trail, and a patron of the Tony Trust, which gives bursaries to underprivileged kids to access outdoor adventure. She’s also an ambassador for global sanitation charity Toilet Twinning. Mary-Ann also serves as a member of the Landscape Advisory Panel for Natural England, advising the government’s statutory body on access and equity issues, and people’s engagement with heritage.

Mary-Ann has an MA in Archaeology & Anthropology from Cambridge University. She is an experienced cold water UK scuba diver, enthusiastic horse rider and keen walker, passionate about encouraging more people to get outside and reconnect with natural places. She was proud to be shortlisted for Outdoor Personality of the Year in the TGO Magazine Reader Awards in 2021. Mary-Ann is a qualified Mental Health First Aider.

Angela Rippon

Angela Rippon has been a familiar face and voice in British broadcasting for nearly 60 years. She is an award-winning journalist who has embraced an impressive variety of programmes on both radio and television for both commercial and BBC channels in Britain, America and Australia.

The scope and quality of her work has been recognised by the Royal Television Society who entered her into their Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2002 she was voted European Woman of Achievement and in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 2004 she was awarded an OBE in recognition of her services to Broadcasting, Charity and the Arts. Angela was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to dementia care in her role as development lead with Dementia Friendly Communities.

Trained as a journalist in her home town of Plymouth, Angela worked for both BBC Plymouth and the ITV station Westward Television before joining BBC National News in 1973. She was appointed the first woman journalist newsreader in 1975 and made two memorable appearances in the Morecambe and Wise Christmas Shows. She was a founder member of the commercial breakfast service TV-am in 1982 and in 1984 moved to America to work for CBS in Boston.

Angela presents BBC One’s flagship consumer programme Rip-Off Britain. She also regularly reports for The One Show and Morning Live, both on BBC One. She appeared in the 2023 series of Strictly Come Dancing, making it to Blackpool and winning the admiration of viewers with her high kicks!

She has presented a wide variety of programmes from hard news and current affairs to quiz shows and magazine programmes for both BBC and commercial radio and television. Titles include Come Dancing; Top Gear, the Antiques Roadshow, Masterteam, Crufts Championship, Holiday Hit Squad, The Holiday Programme, How To Stay Young, The Truth About Dementia, Britain’s Greatest Invention and HealthCheck UK Live, BBC One’s series offering health advice and tips, as well as companionship during the Covid lockdown. Angela was also the voice of the question master on the hit BBC One game show The Wall, with Danny Dyer.

Angela is committed to a number of charities, including the British Red Cross of which she is Vice President and The Alzheimer’s Society.

Angela has written 14 books including Fabulous at Fifty and Beyond.

Julia Somerville

Julia Somerville is currently one of the presenters on the successful flagship consumer BBC One series Rip Off Britain. She also presented Rip Off Britain’s spin off series Food, Holidays and Rip Off Britain: LIVE.

Julia Somerville began her career in broadcasting when she joined the BBC in 1972 as a sub-editor in the Radio Newsroom. She became a chief-sub and then a reporter and was made Labour Affairs Correspondent in 1981. In 1983 she was recruited by BBC Television News to present the Nine O’Clock News.

In 1987 Julia joined ITN. During the next 14 years she presented News at Ten, the Lunchtime News and launched the ITN News Channel. She left ITN in 2001.

She is currently Chairman of the Advisory Committee on the Government Art Collection.

Dr Anjana Khatwa

Dr Anjana Khatwa is an Earth Scientist specialising in bringing stories about the origins and formation of natural landscapes to life for a wide range of audiences.

Anjana appeared as a ‘super-contributor’ on BBC Four’s three-part series, Beach Live, where she was the show’s resident geologist expert, engaging audiences with her insight and knowledge about geology and fossils. She has also appeared several times on ITV’s This Morning and Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh., My Cornwall with Fern Britton and Lighthouses: Building the Impossible both on Channel 5, Villages by the Sea on BBC Two and Britain’s Novel Landscapes on More 4.

Anjana has appeared as a regular expert contributor on many natural history programmes such as BBC Two’s Fossil Detectives, The History Channel’s How the Earth was made, ITV1’s Treasures of Britain and PBS’s Treasures of the Earth.

She is an established expert in learning, engagement and inclusion within natural heritage, museums and the geosciences with multiple publications and articles in leading journals and popular magazines such as Nature Geoscience and BBC Wildlife. In November 2021, Anjana was longlisted for the Nan Shepherd Prize, a biennial literary prize for nature writing. In 2023, she was selected as a judge for the James Cropper Wainwright Prize for nature writing. Her debut non-fiction book, The Whispers of Rock, is a global story of how rocks have not only shaped our world but also our lives. It will be published as a hardback in September 2025 by Little, Brown (UK) and Basic Books (US).

Anjana has won multiple awards over her stellar career in the geosciences including Royal Geographical Society Geographical Award, the RH Worth Medal by the Geological Society of London and the prestigious Halstead Medal from the Geologists’ Association. In 2020, she won a National Diversity Award as a Positive Role Model for Race, Faith and Religion.

Born and bred in Slough, Anjana had a humble upbringing in an urban environment but grew to love the natural world through holidays to places such as Kenya, which is where her family originate from. Anjana has a BSc. in Earth Science and a Ph.D. in Geography where she specialised in glacial geology. Her diverse background and voice brings a unique perspective to her work.

An experienced, passionate and inspiring public speaker, Anjana delivers lectures and speeches that are witty, light and insightful. She is in particular demand for her thought provoking lectures about the role of women and minorities in science, careers in the geosciences and new perspectives on understanding the geological sciences.

Anjana lives in Dorset with her husband and their three children. She enjoys an active lifestyle through running, swimming and also exploring the countryside of Dorset. A major pastime is spent filling her house with rocks and fossils she finds on the Jurassic Coast.

Louise Minchin

Louise Minchin is a well-known and respected broadcaster, journalist and TV presenter. She presented the UK’s most watched Breakfast programme BBC Breakfast on BBC One for 20 years. She was chair of the 2023 judging panel for the prestigious literary award, the Women’s Prize for Fiction and is a successful author and podcaster.

Before joining BBC Breakfast, she was one of BBC News 24’s main anchors and was one of BBC Radio 5 Live’s main presenters. She has also guest presented The One Show and presented the BBC One series Real Rescues, Missing Live and Crime and Punishment. Louise starred in ITV’s I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in Autumn 2021 and also competed in Celebrity MasterChef, coming runner up in the final, and Channel Four’s Time Crashers.

She is the host of the top-rated podcast, Push Your Peak. In this podcast series, Louise interviews first class athletes who have done extraordinary things, to learn what it takes mentally and physically to get to the top of their game.

Louise’s passion is endurance sport. Having given up competitive sport as a teenager, after a BBC Breakfast Christmas cycling challenge she was inspired to attempt her first triathlon in 2013 and went on to qualify for the GB age-group team to race in Chicago in 2015. Since then, she has raced in five World and European Championships and has gone on to compete in extreme triathlons including one of the toughest triathlons in the world, Norseman in 2019.

In February 2020 Louise took part in a 100 mile hike across the Namibian desert for Sport Relief – The Heat is On – raising awareness of mental health.

Louise’s first book, Dare to Tri, was released in 2019 by Bloomsbury and charted her journey from the BBC Breakfast sofa to competing internationally in triathlon.

Her second book Fearless, Adventures with Extraordinary Women, was published in 2023 by Bloomsbury and reflects her passion for celebrating women’s sporting success. In each chapter Louise takes on a difficult challenge with a different courageous woman to tell their incredible stories. As part of it she has swum from Alcatraz, free dived under ice in the dark in Finland, went wild caving, and walked across Dartmoor.

Nayha Ahmad

Nayha Ahmad is a Radio and TV presenter who currently hosts the Official Asian Chart show on the BBC Asian Network and presents the Sky Arts show ‘Unmuted’ and ‘Desi Beat’ on Colors TV, Sky.

Nayha is an experienced TV presenter, having covered the ITV Gala, National TV Awards, Perfume Awards, Camden’s Music Video Awards, Asian Achievement Awards and the Asian Wedding Show. Nayha has also interviewed a catalogue of high-profile celebrities and artists. Starting out at the digital channel Media Spotlight UK, Nayha has interviewed celebrities such as Sean Paul, Abhishiek Bachan, Shaggy and Christina Milian. In 2017, Nayha joined Whats Up TV (now known as ‘Unmuted’) team as a presenter on the Sky series, where she’s interviewed the likes of Sara Pascoe, Russell Kane, Seal, Rosie Jones and Ella Eyre.

Her first break in radio came at her hometown station Asian Star 101.6FM before progressing to West London’s Westside Radio where she hosted the Westside Chart Show. Other experience included London’s Vibe 107.6FM and commercial radio station Aspen Waite Radio. After featuring regularly on the BBC Asian Network, Nayha was announced as the host of the networks Official Asian Chart show in March 2021.

Alongside her presenting and radio work, Nayha loves talking about dating and is the host of her own podcast, the “Dating Dilemmas Podcast”. The series has been featured on BBC Radio London’s “The Scene” as a top Podcast to listen to.

Beyond broadcasting, Nayha is a massive foodie. She can be seen weekly on TV covering a variety of Desi cooking and food from chefs to Mela’s and festivals on the Sky, Colors TV show ‘Desi Beat’.

Nayha is also a fashion guru who loves vintage shopping and regularly shops in Shoreditch and thrift shops. Using this passion for style, Nayha has done a range of interviews; with stylists on skyline to festival fashion on YouTube. Nayha’s professional modelling and fashion work ranges from Asian wedding fairs to catwalks up and down the country as well as magazines.

As a big supporter of children’s charities, Nayha has supported the NSPCC throughout the years, raising funds in various ways including running a pop-up photo shooting business that donated all its earnings to the NSPCC. Another charity close to Nayha’s heart, who she regularly contributes towards is Edhi International Foundation, who provide care and shelter for young orphans.