Prem Gill on how technology is redefining exploration

Could you discover something nobody else on Earth has ever seen without leaving your laptop? In this episode of RGS Presents: The Future of Exploration, host Matt Pycroft speaks with Dr Prem Gill, a researcher at the University of Cambridge and the British Antarctic Survey, who studies Antarctic seals using satellite imagery and cutting-edgetechnology. By spotting seal colonies from space and using AI to analyse vast amounts of data, Prem is helping scientists understand how Antarctica is changing, and what those changes mean for the Southern Ocean, climate and the wider planet. But this is also a conversation about what it means to be an explorer today. Prem sees exploration as something much more universal based in curiosity, asking questions, discovering something new and finding ways to share what we learn. The conversation explores how satellites, remote sensing and AI are transforming scientific discovery, while showing why boots-on-the-ground fieldwork still matters. Prem also reflects on diversity in polar science, the history of Antarctic exploration, and how new technologies could open up opportunities for people who might never think of themselves as explorers.