One of the priorities of the upcoming International Polar Year (2007–08) is education and outreach, in order to inspire a new generation of scientists and encourage young people into science. With this in mind, the Australian Government Antarctic Division selected this year’s Antarctic Arts Fellows for their potential to reach a large, young audience.
Wesley Denning from Network Ten will film some 28 episodes of Totally Wild — a broadly based environment programme aimed at the 8–14 age group. The stories will be aired over 12 months and will promote nature, science, environment and adventure. Totally Wild attracts an audience of 1.4 million a week in Australia and, through the ABC Asia network, has young viewers in 41 countries. Wesley will also obtain footage for Network Ten’s kids science programme SCOPE.
Wesley will be accompanied by cameraman Stephen Harris and producer Marie Davies.
Tanya Patrick from CSIRO education will collect material for the Kids Antarctic Awareness Project — a series of film, audio and written interviews with scientists. This will include segments for Network Ten’s SCOPE and Totally Wild television programmes, magazine feature articles, an Antarctica hands-on activity kit, a diary in email newsletter Science by Email, pod casts, and an interactive website hosted by CSIRO Education. Tanya is editor of Scientriffic, CSIRO’s science magazine for 7-10 year olds.