Charlotte Uhlenbroek

Charlotte Uhlenbroek
Born Charlotte Jane Uhlenbroek
London, England
Nationality British
Alma mater University of Bristol
Occupation
Home town Kathmandu, Nepal
Spouse(s) Daniel Rees(2006–present)

Charlotte Jane Uhlenbroek (born May 1967) is a British zoologist and BBC television presenter.

Early life

Her Dutch father was an agricultural specialist with the United Nations who took his English wife and their family round the world with him. Uhlenbroek was born in London, but her parents moved to Ghana when she was only ten days old. Between the ages of 5–14 she lived in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Education and scientific work

Uhlenbroek attended Oakham School in Rutland, and then gained a BSc in Zoology and Psychology in 1988, followed in 1997 by a PhD in Zoology, at the University of Bristol.[1] She spent six months in Burundi helping primatologist Jane Goodall set up a conservation project for chimpanzees, followed by four years in the forests of Gombe, Tanzania, studying the communication of wild chimpanzees at Goodall's main project base.[2]

Television career

Spotted by the BBC Natural History Unit, Uhlenbroek made her UK television debut in the series Dawn to Dusk, presented by Jonathan Scott, in an episode on the chimpanzees of Gombe Stream National Park. She went on to present the BBC Two programme Chimpanzee Diary as part of the Animal Zone during 1998 and 1999. Uhlenbroek subsequently presented a number of documentaries (both series and one-off programmes) for the BBC, including: Cousins (2000), Congo's Secret Chimps (2001), Talking with Animals (2002), Jungle (2003), Secret Gorillas of Mondika (2005). In 2004, she was one of the subjects of the short documentary series The Way We Went Wild, about television's natural history presenters.

Uhlenbroek visited the Mefou National Park in Cameroon in 2006 to provide narration for Animal Planet's Going Ape TV series, based on the charity Ape Action Africa.[3][4]

In 2007, she presented Safari School, a twenty-part BBC 2 "reality" series in which eight celebrities had to learn to become game rangers at the Shamwari Game Reserve.[5] In 2009 she was associate producer for and presented Among the Apes, a four-part series on Five, each part concerning a different primate species.[6]

Synopsis

Year Title Channel Role Notes
1996
 Nature PBS Scientific consultant One episode, "Jane Goodall's Wild Chimpanzees"
1998–1999
 Chimpanzee Diary BBC Two Presenter Part of Animal Zone
2000
 Cousins BBC One Presenter
2001
 Congo's Secret Chimps BBC Two Presenter Part of Wild Zone
2002
 Talking with Animals BBC One Presenter
2003
 Jungle BBC One Presenter
2005
 Secret Gorillas of Mondika BBC Two Presenter
2006
 Going Ape Animal Planet Narrator Filmed at Ape Action Africa, Cameroon
2007
 Safari School BBC Two Presenter Reality TV
2009
 Among the Apes Five
  • Presenter
  • Associate Producer
The Museum of Curiosity BBC Radio 4 Panelist Series 2 Episode 4
2011 The Adventurer's Guide to Britain ITV1 Co-presenter

Personal life

Since 2006, she has been married to Daniel Rees, who works as a producer for the BBC Natural History Unit.

Uhlenbroek supports Animal Aid and their campaign against primate experiments, stating: "I have yet to hear a sufficiently compelling scientific argument that justifies the suffering inflicted on primates in medical research."[7] She is also a supporter of many animal-orientated charities, including Fauna and Flora International, the Great Apes Survival Project, the Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre and Compassion in World Farming.[1]

Publications

Uhlenbroek also wrote the introduction to Wildlife Portfolio of the Year: Volume Nine, one of an annual collection of prize-winning images.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "University of Bristol – Alumni and friends – Dr Charlotte Uhlenbroek". University of Bristol. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  2. ↑ Friends of the Earth: Living
  3. ↑ Animal Planet – Going Ape
  4. ↑ Ape Action Africa
  5. ↑ "Charlotte Uhlenbroek: On living in the wild". The Independent (London). 21 January 2007.
  6. ↑ How Rutland taught me to live with Apes! Leicester Mercury, 20 June 2009.
  7. ↑ Menache, André. "The scientific case against primate research". Animal Aid. Retrieved 5 June 2010.

External links