We may talk about the polar regions as being the ‘last untouched wilderness’, but humans have been in the Arctic for thousands of years, and since almost our earliest contact the Antarctic was a place of environmental destruction. But these regions aren’t just objectively beautiful with amazing wildlife; they are critical in the climate system of our planet, controlling our weather, and through sea level rise indicating our future; they are key parts of a planetary system, and their degradation affects us. Polar researcher Mark talks about the beauty of the poles, why we should save them, and how we can do it. 

Mark Brandon is a professor of polar oceanography who has been at The Open University for 25 years – but for almost 3 of those he has been doing field work in Antarctica and the Arctic doing climate research on how the oceans are melting the ice sheets. As an OU academic he has worked extensively on large broadcast projects including Frozen Planet, Frozen Planet II, and Blue Planet II. In 2012 he was awarded the Times Higher Education Most Innovative Teacher of the Year, and in 2020 was awarded an MBE for Services to Polar Science, and in 2024 he received the Polar Medal. 

Mark Brandon with Sir David Attenborough filming in Svalbard for Frozen Planet.

How to join:

Head to the Welcome Week conversation on OU Student Connect, where all event links will be posted on Friday 26 September (the day before Welcome Week begins).

This ensures that only OU students can access Welcome Week events. You don't need to create an account; you will be redirected to your OU login page and can join OU Students Connect that way.

Please read our Code of Conduct before joining this session and keep this in mind when taking part.

This session will be recorded and shared on our website. By attending, you consent to your name and video appearing in the recording (you will be able to turn your camera off).