Where do penguins come from?  How do penguins keep warm?  How do people interact with penguins?  What damage are we doing to the penguins’ environment?  These are just some of the questions to be answered at a talk by a Bristol University academic.

The talk, which will appeal to the younger audience as well as families, is entitled A passion for penguins and will be given by physicist Dr Peter Barham on Saturday 15 May.

Dr Barham, through his expertise in materials science, is leading a project with several penguin biologists to design and produce new methods to tag individual penguins.  New plastic bands were field tested earlier this month on African penguins on Robben Island as part of an Earthwatch project looking at the long-term conservation of this vulnerable species, led by Peter and several South African biologists. 

Dr Peter Barham said: “My interest in penguins is long-standing, in fact over 30 years.  I have taken many trips to observe penguins and have been privileged to visit all 17 different species throughout the world in their natural habitats.”

The interactive talk, organised by the University’s Public Programmes Office, will take place in the Tyndall Lecture Theatre, H. H. Wills Physics Laboratory, Tyndall Avenue from 2 to 4 pm.

Tickets are priced at adults, £10 and children, £5.  To book your place contact Diane Thorne, Public Programmes Office, 8-10 Berkeley Square, Bristol or tel 0117 928 7160.