Interview with Mark Brandon

Mark Brandon is professor of polar oceanography at the Open University. An expert on sea level rises, he was an academic adviser for the BBC’s two Frozen Planet series and other nature documentaries. He was awarded the Polar Medal in the New Year’s Honours list.

Where and when were you born?
I was born in east London in 1967. My dad was in the merchant navy and was away a lot and my mother, a secretary, was an alcoholic. I had lots of “aunties”, and it was only when I was older that I realised she was a lesbian. When my dad came back from sea it was violent. I think people who’ve never experienced the effects of alcoholism can often see it as a choice, but it is a disease, and it ruins lives and families. In the early 1970s my mum left and my sister and I were abandoned in an ice cream shop in Dagenham. My dad got custody of us and remarried a few years later. He stopped going to sea and worked on the River Thames, and we had some stability with a wonderful stepmum. I went to a big comprehensive with 2,000 children and I never stood out but, ultimately, I was one of two kids who went to university from my year group. Both my parents died before I left education, my dad from cancers and my mother from tuberculosis after a spell in Holloway prison. I recognise I sound a bit like one of those “I had it tough” people, but I really don’t think I did.

How has this shaped who you are?
My upbringing made me independent. I suppose I’ve always been certain that I’m both on my own and there’s no help coming. In a way, that turned out to be decent training for field-based polar research in the 1990s.

What advice would you give to your younger self?
That’s easy: “Don’t blame yourself for the things adults do.” I wish as well that I had been better at asking people for help.

Why polar exploration?
In all honesty, in the beginning it was about getting away from everything and I couldn’t think of anywhere further. The irony is that these places can be difficult and you have to live closer to people than you could imagine. Once there I knew I had made the right choice for me. I know it sounds trite, but I’m good in the cold: I can cope physically in the most horrendous conditions. What drives me now is that, when I first went in 1990, not many people were interested in the poles, whereas now they provide so much compelling evidence for how we’re changing our climate and planet.

Is the public’s understanding of the polar regions changing?
People understand how vulnerable the polar regions are, and I think the message about their importance is getting traction. We must elevate the arguments above it being about saving a penguin or bear habitat into it being about changing the trajectory of the climate of our planet. I am an optimist about the future. It’s just too easy to be pessimistic. That said, there is a lot of work to be done.

What did you learn about research communication from Frozen Planet?
It is an old joke that everyone needs an editor, but it is true. As a polar enthusiast I think everything is brilliant but, because of my experience, I don’t see the polar regions as normal people do. The senior producers in the BBC Natural History Unit have a much clearer idea of what can surprise and inspire normal people, so to work with them has been a real career highlight. Overall, I am proud that I’ve played a small part in getting the effects and impacts of the climate crisis on BBC One primetime, and I’m super-delighted that no one has pulled apart the series to claim we were wrong in what we said.

You’ve spoken before about how the idea of diversity doesn’t always recognise backgrounds such as yours. Is this changing?
I’m a free-school-meals kid who didn’t have much social capital. I was the first generation to go to university – but I’m a white male professor and that identity seems to be the most visible: because my East End accent has largely gone, people assume I’m upper-middle class. I think for all the protected characteristics we have, diversity often boils down to what is most easily observable – skin colour and sex. No one in any industry would say we need more white men in senior positions, and I’m good with that. At the same time, I wish our conversation about diversity was more nuanced and people would think about protected characteristics that aren’t easily seen. Ultimately, social class isn’t a protected characteristic and, while I personally don’t want any special regard for that, I do think that a truly diverse leadership team is an asset.

What divided your life into a ‘before’ and ‘after’?
Before I went to the Antarctic, I had convinced myself that, if I were born 130 years ago, I could have gone on an expedition from the “heroic age” with Scott, Shackleton, Bruce or Mawson. Having spent a bit of time there I know they were different, and I was fooling myself.

You’ve been a passionate defender of the Open University. Are you confident it can survive its current challenges?
I do think the sector needs us because the OU can provide an education to people who for all sorts of reasons couldn’t study elsewhere. The “open” part really is important, and students need no prior qualifications. I’d say our challenge is that since the pandemic we face competition in way we hadn’t previously: many institutions believe they can now deliver online teaching – obviously I’d argue the OU is better at it. Another concern is the fallout that will come when the children who “attended” online teaching during the pandemic are older, and we will have to work hard with our offer to make sure they see what we do rather than the experience of online learning they had.

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com

CV

1985-89 Bachelor’s degree in physics, University of Surrey
1992-95 PhD in polar oceans, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge
1995-2000 Senior scientific officer, British Antarctic Survey
2000-05 Lecturer in environmental sciences, Open University
2005-13 Senior lecturer in environmental sciences, OU
2012 Times Higher Education most innovative teacher award
2013-18 Reader in polar oceanography, OU
2018-present Professor of polar oceanography, OU
2019-22 Associate dean (enterprise and external engagement), OU
2020 MBE for services to polar science
2020-present Peer review college chair, Natural Environment Research Council
2022-23 Associate dean and director of STEM research, OU
2023 Polar Medal for outstanding work in the polar regions
2023-present Specialist adviser to the UK government’s Environmental Audit Committee

Appointments

Sergei Guriev will be the next dean of London Business School, beginning at the start of the next academic year. He succeeds François Ortalo-Magné, who is stepping down to take up a faculty position and to become the school’s executive dean for external relations. Currently provost and professor of economics at Sciences Po, Professor Guriev was previously the head of Moscow’s New Economics School. He said he admired LBS for “its academic excellence, its truly global DNA and its commitment to diversity and inclusion”.

Ammar Kaka has been appointed pro vice-chancellor and president of Curtin University’s Dubai campus, succeeding John Evans. A professor of construction economics and management, Professor Kaka was most recently the president of the Applied Science University in Bahrain and was previously provost of Heriot-Watt University’s Dubai campus. He said the university’s “global reputation for excellence meant it was “poised to become a driving force in shaping the future of education” in the region.

Diarmuid O’Brien has been named pro vice-chancellor for innovation at the University of Cambridge. He is currently chief executive of Cambridge Enterprise, the university’s commercialisation arm.

Michael Gordin, a professor of modern and contemporary history, has been appointed by Princeton University as dean of the college, responsible for undergraduate admissions and curricula.

Turi King is joining the University of Bath as director of the Milner Centre for Evolution. A professor of genetics and public engagement at the University of Leicester, she is also co-presenter of the television series DNA Family Secrets.

Stéphanie Balme, research director at Sciences Po, has been promoted to become the director of the institution’s Center for International Studies.

The University of Lincoln has appointed Abigail Moriarty as pro vice-chancellor for education. She joins from the University of Sunderland, where she is pro vice-chancellor for learning and teaching and students. Also joining Lincoln is Karl Dyson, pro vice-chancellor for research and enterprise at the University of Salford, who will become pro vice-chancellor for research and knowledge exchange in April.