He's
a realist who appreciates that a lot more people will see this film
than will ever read his book, Biodiversity and Conservation.
One of the books that inspired Lost Worlds director, Bayley
Silleck to make the film.
When Bayley read Andy's book, he called him up, invited him to lunch,
and their collaboration on the project began. Andy suggested telling
the story of the lost city of Tikal, and proposed the idea of comparing
this once bustling city in the heart of the rain forest to a great
modern city like New York. And he told Bayley about the unique and
species—rich ecosystems on the tepuis, which he had visited
with biologist Margarita Lampo.
Over the next few years, as the script of the film went through many
rewrites, Andy was an important member of the development team. He
suggested ways to tell the science part of the whole story. Drawing
on his own fieldwork experiences, he helped the team come up with
solutions to the challenges posed by filming in such inaccessible
locations.
Andy is an ecologist—someone who studies the complex relationships
between parasites, animals, plants, and their environments. He has
always had a passion for the outdoors. As a youngster, growing up
surrounded by the natural beauty of Loch Lomond, Scotland, Andy was
an avid birdwatcher who kept detailed notebooks on local birds and
other animals. Although he was regarded as slightly eccentric by the
rest of his family, his mother still shows these early notebooks to
visitors.
Later, Andy studied zoology at the University of London, then went
to Oxford, where he earned a doctorate in ecology. He then focused
on the study of the spread of infectious diseases among animals and
plants. Andy's career has taken him to every continent—except
Antarctica—to study the intricate relationships between parasites,
their hosts, and the environment. Andy likes to solve problems by
using mathematics to construct models of biological systems. He constructs
a mathematical model for a biological problem, then finds a location
where he can study that model in action.
Working on Lost Worlds was a challenge but one Andy clearly
enjoyed—he's since become involved in the production of a TV
show called Voyages, and he may soon be working on a forthcoming TV
series about the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases. The
take-home message Andy would like viewers to get from the film? We
all depend on the incredible diversity of nature for our survival.
