A minority within a minority: "We didn't know that other Black physicists existed!", "The situation wasn't changing, so we changed it" Dr. Mark Richards

Clive & Ali travel to the Blackett Laboratory @ Imperial College, to sit with Dr Mark Richards, one of the few Black physics lecturers in the country. Mark is an inventor, teacher, mentor and company founder, with vast industry experience from Atmospheric Physics to Finance.

We discussed the reasons behind the apparent lack of Black scientists in the UK, which has been ongoing since Mark's days as an undergraduate Chemist. During his PhD, he comments that there were "no other black physicists" and the situation hadn't changed when he came back to Imperial years later.

We dug deep to understand the root of the issue, which included a lack of role models to aspire to and a lack of research funding to Black academics. Mark shared how he navigated these spaces by leaning into getting his authentic self and bringing new perspectives to the table - an approach that led to his success as an academic and an inventor.

Mark isn't your average scientist, having an established career as a DJ and music producer. His eloquence and humour made this an incredibly inspirational episode, that we know you'll both enjoy and benefit from!