TV presenter and geographer Iain Stewart to give public talk in Perth

Feb 5 2010 Perthshire Advertiser Friday

TELEVISION scholar Dr Iain Stewart will talk about the making of his current series when he visits Perth on Tuesday.

The ‘Earth – the Power of the Planet’ presenter is the latest Fair City guest of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

Dr Stewart embarked on a personal journey to tell the life story of the planet in the dramatic BBC production.

No stranger to the small screen, he is an enthusiastic Scottish geographer and geologist whose TV appearances have helped to show how geology has shaped the world.

His appearance at Perth Concert Hall is part of the RSGS’s ‘Inspiring People’ talks programme.

“Iain is a great font of knowledge on how the earth has shaped our lives, in often unexpected ways, and is an inspirational and compelling speaker,” said RSGS chief executive Mike Robinson.

“He is one of Britain’s best known geographers and we are delighted he has agreed to speak for us.”

Iain Stewart is a lecturer in geology in the School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences at Plymouth University.

He graduated in 1986 with a degree in geology and geography from Strathclyde University in Glasgow, before moving to Bristol University to carry out doctoral research on earthquakes in Greece and Turkey.

He taught at Brunel University in west London, then took up an honorary research fellow post at Glasgow University’s geosciences centre.

He moved to Plymouth in 2004 and his first television series ‘Journeys From the Centre of the Earth’ was broadcast the same year.

His geological research has also featured in two BBC Horizon specials and he was the first geologist on the science team in the fourth series of BBC2’s Rough Science.

Tickets for Dr Iain Stewart’s talk, which starts on Tuesday at 7.30pm, will cost £6 for adults (there is no charge for under-18s or students) and are available from the venue on 01738 621031.