STEM Student Journalists report on what drives the region’s liveliest weatherman.
Former Eastenders soap-star and current BBC East Midlands weather presenter Des Coleman found himself under a new kind of spotlight when interviewed recently by Nottingham pupils Hannah Richards and Jacob Brown.
The Trinity School pair visited Des at the BBC offices on London Road to find out what it takes to become a weatherman, what Des had learned at the Met Office and his views on global warming. They spent time behind the scenes being briefed on how weather reports are created and updated to provide the regular forecasts, and then interviewed Des.
Jacob and Hannah are the latest recruits to the STEM Student Journalist project, generating written, audio and filmed accounts of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) news stories. The project is managed by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda)-funded STEM Partnership to encourage a greater appreciation of STEM subjects at school and into careers.
Commenting on her reporting assignment, Hannah said: “The whole BBC weather experience was really interesting. As well as interviewing Des Coleman, Jacob and I were able to go behind the scenes and find out how weather reports are put together. Everybody at the BBC was very friendly and helpful, especially Des! Overall it was a fantastic morning.”
Des said: “When I was at school in Derby I enjoyed physics, PE and drama. Going for training at the Met Office enabled me to understand and explain complex weather systems to viewers - I now know why we talk so much about it. A great deal of effort goes into weather forecasting – from using a national super computer to gathering data from around the world. I enjoy being part of such a dynamic team.”