Mitchell was born Gareth James Mitchell[3] in Eastleigh, England to a Welsh father,[4] Colin Mitchell.[5] He spent his childhood in Montgomeryshire,[6]Powys, Wales.[7] When Gareth was seven, his father lit up a bulb with a closed circuit, and that sparked his interest in science.[8]
He was a member of the computer society at school (Welshpool High School) and participated in bellringing[9] and organ playing[10] at his local church. As an undergraduate studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London, Mitchell joined campus radio working behind the scenes, but saw that "[t]he people who seemed to be having all the good fun were the creative types in the studios."[11] Because of that, after getting his engineering degree and relevant work, he took up an MSc in Science Communication, also at Imperial.[12]
Broadcasting
Mitchell joined the BBC during the mid-1990s, starting his career as a broadcast engineer. His initial dream was to be part of Tomorrow's World,[13] BBC's flagship technology TV programme, but a visit to a radio studio at Bush House got him obsessed about radio journalism.[14][failed verification] Mitchell eventually decided to trade climbing TV and radio transmitter towers for science and technology journalism. He had worked for Radio Netherlands on science programmes.[citation needed]
After the end of Digital Planet, in April 2023, Mitchell and Thompson returned with a new technology podcast, The Gareth and BillCast[30] as well as Mitchell presenting ""Somewhere on Earth: The Global Tech Podcast"[31]
Lecturing
Mitchell has lectured at Imperial College London since 1998 in broadcast and written journalism on the Science Communication and Science Media Production MSc programmes [32][33] since 2000[34] and 2002 respectively.[35] He also presents the Imperial College Podcast. The key event leading to his appointment as a radio tutor was a bet in a pub over a Guardian job advertisement for that role.[36][37]
He emceed TEDx Imperial.[38] He has attended the World Economic Forum[39] and has hosted workshops, discussion panels and conferences on science and technology.[40][41][42]
At Imperial he has cofounded, and now runs, the "Science Media Diversity Scholarship".[43] The award covers tuition fees and London living costs for a year, for a student from a minority ethnic group. The Science Media Diversity Scholar also completes an internship at one of the sponsoring television production companies.[citation needed]
Apart from the bells and the organ, other instruments Mitchell can play are the piano and keyboard.[citation needed][47] He rides motorcycles, has taken flying lessons, and has been a licensed amateur radio operator since August 2019.[48][3] with his call sign M7GJM. He continues to use his engineering skills by for example has developing a way to provide the required signal needed for the studio clocks[37][49] he'd bought at an auction for items from Bush House, the BBC World Service's former headquarters, he did this by making a Master clock from a microcontroller called an Arduino.
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