The palaeontology student’s channel is fast approaching nearly 130 million views
A Portsmouth student inspired by his Grandad to make YouTube videos on science and nature has released the 300th episode of ‘7 Days of Science’, a series with over 600,000 subscribers.
Ben Thomas is a Master's palaeontology student at the University of Portsmouth who started making nature documentaries as a youngster on family holidays.
He said his Grandad was always fascinated by new technology and helped him set up his YouTube channel over 10 years ago, which features videos about life and science. The channel is fast approaching nearly 130 million views.
Ben started the '7 Days of Science' with school friend, Doug James, in 2018. The series covers a diverse range of scientific topics, ranging from new dinosaur discoveries to explorations of biodiversity and environmental issues.
Ben Thomas with Professor Dave Martill in Morocco
Ben said: “Our channel is all about educating in an entertaining way and showing the audience the incredible world we live in and the complex, fascinating history that makes life on Earth so unique.
“It’s very heavily palaeontology-focused, but we also cover the previous week’s interesting science news. We release a short video every Wednesday and recently asked our friend Emilia to join as a third presenter. Emilia’s a palaeontology Master’s student too and also contributes to the writing.”
Our channel is all about educating in an entertaining way and showing the audience the incredible world we live in and the complex, fascinating history that makes life on Earth so unique.
A lifelong dinosaur fan, Ben’s interest in palaeontology peaked when he visited the University as an eager 15-year-old volunteer to help with some fossil preparation for his Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award.
He also loved the 1999 TV show Walking with Dinosaurs, and some of his favourite YouTube videos review the scientific accuracy of the BBC series.
He said: “One of my Master’s supervisors, Dave Martill, was a scientific adviser on Walking with Dinosaurs. I really loved that series - it was another big inspiration that got me into palaeontology.
“I wanted to come to Portsmouth because I knew it was a really good course. It’s been fantastic and I’ve really enjoyed my time at the University.”
Plaster jacketing a Lystrosaurus fossil in South Africa
The students have produced videos to coincide with big milestones, so when they hit 100,000 subscribers, they made a special episode about the Earth 100,000 years ago.
Ben added: “The next video we do will look at the Earth 600,000 years ago to celebrate reaching over 600,000 subscribers. The more our numbers go up, the closer we’ll get to exploring the time of dinosaurs!”
Dr Anthony Butcher, Programme Lead for Geosciences, said: “Ben’s success on YouTube is a triumph and we’re proud that he’s turned his passion for palaeontology into engaging videos for curious minds to watch.
“The videos show how he, Doug and Emilia can make complex scientific concepts accessible and interesting. We hope these talented students inspire the next generation of palaeontologists to come and join us here at Portsmouth.”
To find out more about studying Palaeontology at Portsmouth, please visit the course pages on our website: https://www.port.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate/bsc-hons-palaeontology
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