Vanessa Collingridge

Dr Vanessa Collingridge is an award-winning broadcaster, author, academic and leadership coach. For over 30 years, she’s filmed with the BBC, ITV, Channels 4 & 5 and a host of international channels. She specialises in science, environment, culture and history - but mostly she’s fascinated with our human capacity to connect, engage and share stories. Her best-selling book on the explorer Capt James Cook was turned into a 4 x 1hr drama documentary, winning 5 major international awards and she is currently filming a history of maritime trade between China and the West, for broadcast in 2025. 

Through her company, Monster Media Productions, she makes radio and television programmes and hosts conferences and events. She is also a leadership and impact coach for individuals, companies, universities and business schools around the world, and an adjunct faculty member of the Krakow Business School in Poland and The Global Center for Entrepreneurship in the US. In 2021, she graduated from the CORE Mediation programme, adding mediation and conflict resolution to her teaching and coaching programmes.

Somewhat less useful for the day-job, she’s also a qualified cosmonaut with Russia’s Star City Space Tourism Programme. Having lived and worked on all seven continents on earth - including the Antarctic, she's now based in Scotland with her partner, their four sons, a dog, two cats, an African pygmy hedgehog and an axolotl.