User:Karthanitesh/sandbox

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Simon James Clark
Born (1990-10-22) October 22, 1990 (age 33)
Torquay, Devon, England
NationalityUnited Kingdom
EducationUniversity of Oxford (MPhys)
University of Exeter (PhD)
Occupations
Known forOnline video, educational entertainment, author
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2010–present
GenreScience education
Subscribers396 thousand[1][2]
(January 2022)
Total views31 million views[3][2]
(January 2022)
Associated acts
Websitesimonoxfphys.com

Simon James Clark is a British theoretical and atmospheric physicist and science communicator. He is best known for making educational science content and vlogs about his experiences as a student on YouTube. He has also done many collaborations with creators and communicators such as Acapella Science, Real Engineering, and The Yogscast. He completed his PhD at the University of Exeter researching dynamical stratosphere-troposphere coupling over the Arctic.[4] In January 2022, his debut book, Firmament: The Hidden Science of Weather, Climate Change, and the Air that Surrounds Us was published on January 27, 2022.

Education and Research[edit]

Clark attended Wellsway School in Keynsham from 2002 to 2009.[5] He studied physics at the University of Oxford starting in 2009, and graduated with a Master of Physics degree in 2013.[6] He then moved on to the University of Exeter, completing his PhD, specialising in theoretical and atmospheric physics, in 2017 under the supervision of Professor Mark Baldwin.[7][8]

His research focused on the coupling of events in the polar troposphere and the polar stratosphere, with particular focus to the tropospheric impact of extreme stratospheric events, such as sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs), on the troposphere. He derived a new quasi-geostophic theoretical framework and associated index of the coupling phenomenon[9]. He presented his research at AGU 2015[10] and at EGU 2016.[11][12]

YouTube channels[edit]

Simonoxfphys[edit]

In 2010, Clark created his YouTube channel Simonoxfphys. His initial aim was to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds apply to prestigious universities. This was achieved through providing an insider's perspective of the admissions process. This then moved to providing a perspective of student life from an actual student. These were both resources he wished were available to him when applying to university. Clark has published many vlogs, or 'A day/week in the life' videos to do just that. This was something he continued while studying for his PhD. He has also produced a couple of educational series about the physics of the atmosphere and cryosphere.[13][14]

St Peter's College, Oxford YouTube Channel[15][edit]

Upon realising the success Clark had been having with his own channel, he proposed that his college made a channel. They then tasked him with this. To begin with the plan was to do a few interviews with current students at the college, in order to present their perspectives of student life, the college and university. This channel became so successful, it has had a lasting impact on the ways in which many colleges at the university go about doing access work.

The Oxvlog Project[edit]

Simon is the founder of the Oxvlog project.[16]

Following and building on the success of his own channel and that of St Peter's, Clark - now in the fourth year of his undergraduate studies at Oxford - pondered the idea of doing weekly vlogs with the aim of providing an honest student perspective of life at the University of Oxford. Thus forming the Oxvlog project. It began as a series of vlogs on Clark's personal channel. Upon graduating from Oxford, Clark wanted the project to continue and so pushed the university to continue the project but as a collaboration of undergraduate students from all colleges across the university. This suggestion did not receive much interest and so Clark took matters into his own hands and made a dedicated channel for the project and recruited five undergraduates, who went on to amass over 100,000 views and dedicated followings of their own.[17]

Public Engagement[edit]

In 2015, Simon received a $2000 scholarship to support the creation of educational content on YouTube through the Project for Awesome from the Foundation to Decrease World Suck. In 2017 he was selected as a winner of YouTube NextUp 2017, a national competition for YouTube channels with between 10k and 100k subscribers demonstrating quality production and potential for growth.[18][19] For this he received a grant to support his channel and improve video content and subsequently was part of the first Global Creator Camp in New York.

In the past, Clark has produced videos for companies such as Airbus, and the European Central Bank.[20][21] He has also featured in a series of physics: practical skills videos on BBC Bitesize.[22] In 2018, Clark gave a talk at a TEDx event at Lancaster University, speaking about how to use video to educate.[23] He has also spoken about Chaos theory at Eton college.[24]

During his time at the University of Oxford, Clark was awarded the Gibbs prize for public speaking, the Scott prize for teaching and learning physics in schools, and two OxTALENT awards for his work on outreach via social media. Then while at the University of Exeter, he went on to receive XMedia awards for Best Radio Show and Most Innovative Project for co-hosting the radio show The Science Hour on XpressionFM; the campus's radio station.[7]

The Wikicast[edit]

The Wikicast is a podcast hosted by Simon and his good friend and ex-housemate Daniel Maw, whom he met while at the University of Exeter. The general premise surrounds clicking the "Random article" button on Wikipedia and discussing whatever article they land on. Often there are guest appearances made by friends or colleagues of the pair. Generally these occur on episodes that are multiples of ten. Episodes are released on a fortnightly basis. The podcast features many segments, or "corners". These include Critics' Corner, Patreon Corner, Correspondence Corner, and Dan's Choral Piece of the Week. The podcast is not-for-profit and is primarily supported by Patreon subscriptions.

Spongy and Electric[edit]

Clark and Maw also have a joint YouTube channel called "Spongy and Electric".[25] The majority of uploads are the Wikicast episodes but there are also short vlogs and play-throughs of Kerbal Space Program and Getting Over It. The first few videos on the channel are film reviews.

Twitch Streaming[edit]

Clark regularly streams on his Twitch channel.[26] The usual schedule is twice weekly. The first, on Wednesday evening, and the second, on Sunday afternoon. On Wednesdays, Clark will go through a maths or physics paper, typically from ages 16-18 or undergraduate level, or sometimes textbook questions, with the aim of it being a fun way of teaching physics or maths. The Sunday streams are generally more relaxed and Clark will play-through a video-game. Currently the game of choice is Warhammer 40,000: Mechanicus. In the past, Clark has streamed games such as Kerbal Space Program to keep within the idea of 'educational content'.

A list of past exam papers Clark has gone through on his Wednesday evening streams can be found on his website.[27]

More recently, with the Coronavirus pandemic forcing everyone into lockdown, Clark has been streaming more regularly, almost daily. Clark is currently coding an atmospheric model, Called "CLAuDE"[28]. Through these streams he is trying to educate the viewers on coding in python, and also on atmospheric physics. He has also done a "live coding" stream where he attempted to solve a theoretical problem proposed to him by Simon Lane of The Yogscast, using python. Clark has also streamed a selection of video-games including, The Sims 4, Guns of Icarus Online and Minecraft.

On Fridays, Clark is currently painting an army of Warhammer 40k Orks, called "Hawaii 5 Ork". These are kitbashed Orks from Games Workshop, characterized by their grass skirts, Hawaiian shirts, sunglasses and pineapples.

Personal Life[edit]

Clark currently lives with his fiance, who is affectionately referred to as a 'Pixel Girl'. The name came about as Clark pixelates her face in any appearance of her in his vlogs. The aim is to keep Pixel Girl's identity confidential due to her choice of career.

In addition to his scientific and videographic interests he has been a musician for his entire adult life, playing the cornet and saxophone before becoming a bass choral scholar at the University of Exeter. He toured nationally and internationally with the choir, and has been recorded as a chorus member and a soloist. He has had a lifelong interest in books, writing, cinema and music[29].

Clark has also recently adopted a 17-year-old female cat called "Jasmine".

References[edit]

  1. ^ https://www.youtube.com/user/SimonOxfPhys/about
  2. ^ a b "About Simon Clark". YouTube.
  3. ^ https://www.youtube.com/user/SimonOxfPhys/about
  4. ^ Clark, Simon James (2017). Quasi-geostrophic influence of the polar stratosphere on the troposphere (Ph.D. thesis). University of Exeter.
  5. ^ "Home | Wellsway School". www.wellswayschool.com. Retrieved 2020-04-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. ^ Clark, Simon (2013-11-12). "Graduating from the University of Oxford". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-04-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ a b "Biography - Simon Clark". www.simonoxfphys.com/bio. Retrieved 2020-04-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ "Professor Mark P. Baldwin | Mathematics | University of Exeter". emps.exeter.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  9. ^ Clark, Simon James (2017). Quasi-geostrophic influence of the polar stratosphere on the troposphere (Ph.D. thesis). University of Exeter.
  10. ^ Clark, Simon (2015-12-16). "The Plunger Hypothesis: an overview of a new theory of stratosphere-troposphere dynamic coupling". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ^ "Presenting my PhD research at EGU 2016!". YouTube. 2016-04-26. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "The plunger hypothesis - predicting the tropospheric impact of extreme stratospheric events" (PDF). 2016. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  13. ^ "Crash Course in Atmospheric Physics". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  14. ^ "Crash Course Cryosphere". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  15. ^ "SPCOxford". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  16. ^ Clark, Simon (2012-10-06). "Oxvlog - Freshers! - MT2012 Week 0". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-04-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ "The Oxvlog Project". The Oxvlog Project's YouTube Channel. Retrieved 2020-04-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  18. ^ "Meet NextUp London's Class of 2017..." YouTube UK Blog. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  19. ^ "YouTube Names NextUp 2017 Winners For New York And London Creator Camps". Tubefilter. 2017-05-15. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  20. ^ "How to build your own Mars rover (in 12,195 easy steps)". YouTube. 2018-10-25. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  21. ^ "Economics, PhDs, and my bathtub". YouTube. 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  22. ^ "Practical Skills - Practical skills - GCSE Physics (Single Science) Revision - AQA". BBC Bitesize. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
  23. ^ "Creating videos for digital eyes | Simon Clark | TEDxLancasterU". YouTube. 2018-07-12. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  24. ^ "Brian Cox in concert and speaking at Eton - September vlog". YouTube. 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2020-04-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  25. ^ "Spongy and Electric". YouTube. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  26. ^ "drsimonclark". Twitch. Retrieved 2020-04-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  27. ^ "Streaming". Simon Clark. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
  28. ^ "Planet Factory Github Page". Github. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  29. ^ "Biography, Paragraph 7". Simon Clark. Retrieved 20 June 2020.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Karthanitesh/sandbox.



Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford Category:Alumni of the University of Exeter Category:Science communicators Category:English YouTubers Category:21st-century English scientists Category:Living people Category:21st-century physicists Category:English physicists

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