Dr Simon Clark is an award-winning science communicator and author from Bath, UK. He holds a master’s degree in Physics from St Peter’s College, University of Oxford, and a PhD in atmospheric physics from the University of Exeter. In 2023 he was made an Honorary Industrial Fellow of the University of Bristol.
Simon began creating YouTube content in 2010, initially focusing on guiding students from disadvantaged backgrounds through the competitive admissions processes of prestigious universities like Oxford and Cambridge. Drawing from his own experiences as a state school applicant, his early videos offered practical advice on applications, interviews, and insider perspectives. During his PhD at Exeter, his channel shifted toward science education, featuring series on atmospheric and cryospheric physics, as well as vlogs documenting graduate life. Since completing his doctorate, Simon’s content has centred on the climate crisis, while also exploring topics such as the history of science, machine learning, and mental health.
Over the years his YouTube channel has gone from strength to strength, accruing over half a million subscribers and over 60 million lifetime views.
To continue his work improving access to Oxford University he founded the Oxvlog project, a unique YouTube channel featuring vloggers across the whole university, and also created the comedy channel Spongy and Electric and podcast The Wikicast with Daniel Maw. Along with fellow science communicators Ali Jennings, Emily Bates, and Shamini Bundell, he co-founded the RPGeeks, a project using a sci-fi Dungeons and Dragons campaign, streamed live on Twitch, to start conversations about science.
Simon’s debut book, Firmament (2022), is a comprehensive introduction to atmospheric science, bridging the gap between weather and climate change. Published by Hodder & Stoughton, it was named a Waterstones Science Book of the Year. Firmament is available in hardback, ebook, and audiobook formats.
In addition to his own videos, Simon has collaborated on YouTube videos with many creators, including Tom Scott, Real Engineering, Tom Nicholas, Hello Future Me, Hat Films, and the Yogscast, and also presented a series of videos for BBC Bitesize, BBC Earth, and the Weather Channel. Collaborations with brands include Merck, Airbus, the European Central Bank, Roborace, and the UK Central Laser Facility. Simon has also delivered invited talks at national and international universities and conferences, including events at CERN and the European Geosciences Union.
Notable awards:
Royal Meteorological Society’s Emerging Communicator award, 2024
Named as a “Climate Creator to Watch” by Pique Action and The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2024
Firmament named as a Waterstones science book of the year, 2022
Scholarship from The Foundation to Decrease Worldsuck, 2017
XMedia awards for Best Radio Show and Most Innovative Project, University of Exeter, 2015
Gibbs prize for public speaking and the Scott prize for teaching and learning physics in schools, University of Oxford, 2011
A passionate musician, Simon has played the cornet and saxophone and served as a bass choral scholar at the University of Exeter., where he met his wife. He toured nationally and internationally with the choir, and has been recorded as a chorus member and a soloist. Additionally, he has taken part in fundraising activities for multiple charities, including running several sponsored half marathons and taking part in the annual Yogscast Jingle Jam.
He has a lifelong interest in books, writing, cinema, and all things geeky. Ask him about Warhammer 40K, I dare you.
