Education
He read Zoology at the University of Bristol graduating in 1981 and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from Bristol in 1985 and an honorary Doctor of Science Doctor of Science from the University of Bristol in 2014.
He read Zoology at the University of Bristol graduating in 1981 and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy from Bristol in 1985 and an honorary Doctor of Science Doctor of Science from the University of Bristol in 2014.
He was described by Sir David Attenborough as ‘one of the most inventive producers in radio’ and during his award of an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Bristol was credited with bringing ‘live natural history programming to Radio 4’. Julian Alan Lowther Hector was born in 1958 in Nairobi, Kenya and educated at Bedford Modern School. In the later stage of his days as an undergraduate, Hector worked as a seabird ecologist with the British Antarctic Survey in South Georgia, an unpopulated British island 1400 km from the Falkland Islands.
The project involved studying the breeding patterns of albatrosses on Bird Island under the ultimate directorship of John Croxall and Sir Brian Follett.
The project’s work was ‘pioneering’ and uncovered why albatrosses only breed every two years. Unfortunately the project coincided with the Falklands War which led to the four-man team being stranded on Bird Island as South Georgia was then occupied by the Argentine Army.
The team was eventually rescued by the Royal Navy. After a spell as an academic and working for various conservation organisations, Hector joined the British Broadcasting Corporation Natural History Unit in 1993 as a producer where he is credited with bringing ‘live natural history programming to Radio 4’ and Sir David Attenborough described him as ‘one of the most inventive producers in radio’.
He became head of the British Broadcasting Corporation Natural History Unit and has been the producer of many popular series including David Attenborough"s Stories, writer and producer of the Lakes and Rivers episode in the British Broadcasting Corporation’s Wild Africa series, Migration Live, World on the Move, Saving Species and Shared Planet, at all times ‘connecting the natural and human environments to tackle questions of conservation and social justice’.
Foreign television, in 2014 he was Executive producer of the Tigers about the House series. Julian is a qualified diver, sportif cyclist and sails a Wayfarer class dinghy.