David Oakes
Location: Somerset, UK
Pronouns: He/Him
Artforms
Theatre / Documentary filmmaking / Storytelling / Sound art / Podcasting
Topic Areas
Geographical Privilege / Biodiversity / Conservation
Change-Making Skills
Public speaking / Persuasive writing / Storytelling / Active listening / Social media communication / Outreach and canvassing / Investigative research / Fact-checking / Data analysis
About
I’m an actor, ecologist and conservationist working where storytelling meets the natural world. On screen I’m known for historical drama, including Victoria, The Borgias, The White Queen, The Pillars of the Earth and Vikings: Valhalla. Alongside acting I write, research and make work about wildlife and the conservation landscape. My main personal project is Trees A Crowd, the natural history podcast I founded in 2018: long-form conversations with artists, scientists and conservationists about how the wild world shapes how we live and create. I’m Vice President of The Wildlife Trusts, an ambassador for the Woodland Trust and other organisations, and also a Fellow of the Linnean Society. In short, I use a public profile built in the arts to bring more people into conservation, and to make the case that creativity is a serious tool for nature recovery rather than a decorative one.
Project Goals for the next 6-12 Months
Over the next 6-12 months I want to deepen the overlap between my creative work and my conservation work, rather than running them as two parallel careers. Concretely that means growing the reach and range of Trees A Crowd, finding collaborators outside the usual nature-media circle, and developing storytelling formats that move people from interest in wildlife to action for it. I’m especially keen to connect with artists, writers, film-makers and musicians who want to put nature at the centre of their work, and with conservation organisations who treat culture as core to nature recovery rather than an afterthought. With the UK’s 30 by 30 target now close, I want my output, on and off screen, to be genuinely useful to that effort. So the right people to reach me are those working at the intersection of art and activism: anyone building creative projects, campaigns or collaborations that get more, and more diverse, people caring about the wild world.
Open to collaboration
