Adam Hart

Hart was an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge, studying Zoology at Churchill College.[1] His PhD at the University of Sheffield was on the cooperative behaviour of social insects (a group he became interested in because of their social behaviour[10]). Following a post-doc examining conflict in social systems,[11] he transferred to the University of Gloucestershire in 2005, where he is currently the Professor of Science Communication.[1]

Hart has published scientific papers on a variety of topics, including entomology, ecology, disease, hygiene, nesting phenology, citizen science, Africa antelope surveying, thermal imaging, African grassland management and climate change.[7] In 2018 his research on spiders was named by Made at Uni as one of the UK's 100 best breakthroughs for its significant impact on people's everyday lives.[12] Research Hart co-authored on the use of low-cost thermal imaging for anti-poaching work[13] won the 2019 Green Gowns Awards in the Research with Impact category.[14]

He co- wrote the Oxford University Press textbook Applied Ecology, described as 'a cornerstone publication for all undergraduate students studying ecology',[15] and is also a co-author of the textbook Introducing Forensic and Criminal Investigation.[16] He has served as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Ecological Entomology and is currently an Associate Editor of that journal.[17] He sits on the Editorial Board of The Biologist, the magazine of the Royal Society of Biology,[18] and is an Associate Editor of Antenna, the magazine of the Royal Entomological Society.[19] Hart is also the founding co-editor of Instar, a magazine published by the Royal Entomological Society for children.[20]

Hart has an active involvement with large-scale citizen science projects that include the "Flying Ant" survey,[21] the "Spider in da House" survey and app[22][23] and the "Starling Murmuration" survey[24] with the Royal Society of Biology. The scientific findings of these studies have been widely disseminated.[25] In 2018 he led a team that studied, for the first time, the use of Twitter-mining in ecology,[26] which was covered by a number of news sites.[27][28]

In 2017 Hart co-ran the Big Wasp Survey with Seirian Sumner, which attracted criticism from quarters in the national press[29][30] because it asked people to set up lethal wasp traps. Hart and collaborator Seirian Sumner responded to this criticism in press[31] and media.[32] Hart authored a piece for BBC Online News defending wasps and their ecological value as well as putting forward the scientific case for the Big Wasp Survey.[33] Hart later went on to make a BBC Radio 4 documentary and a BBC World Service series exploring some of the issues raised.[34][35]

As a commentator on science-related stories, Hart has frequently appeared in the national press, often contributing to stories involving invertebrates such as ladybird invasions,[36] spiders[37] and ants.[38] He has also discussed topics including the fear of spiders,[39] the threat of tree diseases,[40] banana disease[41] and insect conservation.[42]

Hart has written a number of high-profile articles on African conservation issues, including trophy hunting,[43] rhino poaching and the horn legalization debate,[44][45] the issues of fences in conservation,[46] and the economics and conservation issues of breeding of color variant antelopes in South Africa.[47] He is also a frequent commentator on our relationships with bacteria, including the medical implications of gut bacteria.[48]

In recognition of his academic work Hart is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society[49] and of the Royal Society of Biology. In 2010, he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy[50] and the Society of Biology (now the Royal Society of Biology) Science Communicator of the Year award.[51] In 2011, he delivered the Charter Lecture for the Royal Society of Biology[52] and in 2015 he launched the University of Gloucestershire's public lecture series[53] and delivered the AGM address for the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust.[54]

Hart thinks that science communication is about sharing science, saying that "The scientific method is our greatest intellectual achievement – it is a tool to understand ourselves and the universe. How could you not want to share that?"[11]

Hart has frequently appeared on and presented TV and radio science documentaries.[55][56][57] He co-presented BBC4's Planet Ant: Life Inside the Colony[4] (with George McGavin), a 90-minute documentary about leafcutting ants, and BBC's two-part series Hive Alive[6] (presenting with Martha Kearney and Chris Packham). Hart also presented Life on Planet Ant, aimed at a younger audience, for BBC2.[5] Planet Ant was nominated for Broadcast Digital[58] and Royal Television Society awards.[59]

Hart captained the University of Sheffield team[2] to the final of the BBC2 Christmas University Challenge series, which sees "teams of prominent alumni from 14 universities and university colleges...compete for the glory of their institutions and the honour of being declared Series Champions".[60]

Since 2011, Hart has presented BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service documentaries on an array of topics including honey,[61] migratory beekeeping,[62] swarm robotics,[63] tree diseases,[64][65] gut bacteria,[66] de-extinction,[67] trophy hunting[68][69] (in the wake of the Cecil the Lion story), the concept of free will in biology[70] and animal personality.[71]

In 2016 he presented documentaries for BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service on human-induced evolutionary change,[72] the controversy over rhino horn trade[73] and on mosquito control.[74]

Hart presented the BBC World Service weekly science magazine programme Science in Action for three months in 2017.[75]

In 2018, Hart wrote and presented the BBC Radio 4 documentary Inside the Killing Jar, exploring the fact that entomologists often have to kill what they study.[34] The program investigated lethal sampling and the controversial idea that insects may feel pain and was later extended into a series for BBC World Service.[35] In the same year, he wrote and presented the 5-part series The Genius of Accidents for BBC Radio 4, which explored the role of accident and luck in scientific discoveries[76] In 2019, Hart co-authored a commentary paper on the ethics of insects in research, with a particular emphasis on ecological sampling and by-catch reduction.[77]

Hart is a frequent public speaker, lecturing on topics that include social insects,[78][79] citizen science[80] and trophy hunting[81] to schools, public audiences and special-interest groups.[11] In 2013 he delivered a 24-hour lecture on social insects as part of the Royal Society's National Biology Week.[82] He has also written numerous articles for newspapers, magazines and for the BBC Science and Environment pages, including opinion pieces on migratory beekeeping,[83] human-induced evolution,[84] animal personality[85] and the realities of modern-day African hunting.[86] He has also written about the complex role of gut bacteria in human immunity.[87]

In 2015, his first popular-science book was published. The Life of Poo details our complex relationship with bacteria.[8]

He is a regular presenter and chair at the Cheltenham Science Festival, tackling topics such as tree diseases,[88] bees,[89] gut bacteria,[90] and garden moths.[91] He has also appeared at the Edinburgh,[92] Northern Ireland[93] and Malta[94] Science Festivals, speaking on, amongst other things, the role of gut bacteria and the use of pheromones in communication.[95] He has also been a speaker at the New Scientist Live Event held annually in London.[96] In 2013, he hosted the EU COST Science Night in Brussels.[97] Hart also hosted the 60th anniversary celebrations of the British Society for Immunology at the Royal Society and chaired the debate 'The changing face of medical research'.[98]

• 2010 Science Communicator of the Year, Society (now Royal Society) of Biology
• 2010 National Teaching Fellowship, Higher Education Academy
• 2012 Student Union Outstanding Lecturer Award[1]
• 2019 Green Gowns Award for Research with Impact[14]
• Hart is a patron of the charity Bees Abroad[99]

• Website
• Adam Hart at DML Management