Ian Fergusson

Ian Fergusson was born in the Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England but spent much of his younger years living abroad including in Japan, Southern Africa and California. His final school years were spent in Hertfordshire, England and Edinburgh, Scotland. Ian Fergusson is a BBC weather presenter in the West of England, appearing on the regional news programme 'Points West', especially breakfast bulletins. Previously he worked as a cameraman based at BBC Bristol (where he was awarded by the Royal Television Society). Arguably, he is best-known to the wider public through his TV documentary work on sharks. Fergusson's interests in sharks began as a child in South Africa in the mid 1970s. He went on to gain chartered status as a biologist and his research and conservation work in the past decade has mainly focused on sharks inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea. He has authored a number of scientific papers on the biology of great white sharks and other species, including preparing sections of the well-known 'Red List' of threatened species prepared by IUCN: The World Conservation Union. His credentials as a shark conservationist include helping establish the Shark Trust, a UK-based wildlife charity, in 1997. Fergusson is now a patron of the Trust and also serves as a member of the IUCN Shark Specialist Group. Although much of his TV work with the BBC has been behind the scenes as a cameraman, his TV appearances have spanned over a decade including presenting Channel 4's Equinox: 'Jaws in the Med' in 1995. Since then, he has been a regular contributor in television portrayals of sharks, including appearances on various BBC and ITV documentaries; children's programmes including the BBC's Blue Peter and Live & Kicking; and even fending-off Jeremy Paxman as a guest on BBC Two's current affairs series, Newsnight. He was awarded by the Royal Television Society for his camera-work in 2007 and given Freedom of the City of London in 1997. Fergusson will appear as guest presenter in the first of a major new BBC TWO series of science-adventure documentaries,'Oceans', which will be shown in Autumn 2008.