University lockdown lecturer engages with new audience online

Dr Pete Bridge

A University lecturer, Dr Pete Bridge, has adapted his teaching skills for a slightly younger audience during lockdown to help provide support for colleagues and people in the community.

Inspired by all the questions from his young son, and to help maintain contact with his primary-school age nephews and nieces, Dr Bridge created a ‘silly’ alter ego Dr Pete to deliver weekly online ‘fun science lectures’ via a Youtube channel.

The young fan base of ‘Dr Pete’s Intriguing Lecturers for Inquiring Minds’ series has gradually extended to help support colleagues and people in the community who are seeking some welcome distractions for their children as they work from home.

The lectures are delivered in a lively (and predominantly silly) style using a child’s blackboard, a microphone and a ‘potato-phone’.

Dr Bridge, said: “My sessions combine a small amount of teaching material with live experiments and an unusual tea break. Lectures are broadcast from my home ‘laboratory’ on Thursdays at 2pm and thus far I have covered such diverse topics as rockets, cheese, senses, weather, volcanoes and X-rays.”

The series was recently featured on Granada Reports.

To find the channel just search YouTube for “Dr Pete Bridge” or use this link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4pgDKcKW6CgEsUOw7VyBmw?view_as=subscriber