Dan O’Neill
Inclusion conversations inside large organisations have stalled. The language has matured but the visible role models in senior, technical, and field-facing functions have not. Workforces hear the policy and look for the proof, and when they cannot find it the commitment reads as performative.
Dan O’Neill is a field biologist and BBC, National Geographic, and Curiosity Stream wildlife presenter who speaks to organisations about visibility, resilience under field conditions, and the human story behind conservation.
Full Profile
Why organisations work with Dan O’Neill
- He is the first openly LGBTQ+ presenter to front a major-network wildlife series, which gives inclusion programmes a credible external voice from a STEM and field science career, not a corporate one.
- His material is built from named expeditions with the Snow Leopard Trust, Philippine Eagle Foundation, and Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society, so the resilience and decision-making content is grounded in specific places and stakes.
- He carries a working scientific credential, an Honorary Research Associate role and PhD candidacy at Bristol Veterinary School, which lets sustainability and conservation themes land with audiences who are sceptical of branded ESG narrative.
- He has been recognised by Attitude Magazine as a 101 Trailblazer in STEM in 2025, which gives Pride, ERG, and inclusion programming a current and verifiable name rather than a legacy one.
Biography highlights
- Host of Giants (Curiosity Stream, 2023), Snow Leopards with Dan O’Neill (Love Nature, Sky TV), and Zombie Animals (National Geographic, 2024)
- Co-presenter, Tiger Island (BBC One, 2026)
- First Explorer in Residence, Snow Leopard Trust
- Honorary Research Associate and Lecturer, University of Bristol; PhD candidate, Bristol Veterinary School
- Wildscreen Panda Award nominee for Snow Leopards with Dan O’Neill
- Attitude Magazine 101 Trailblazers, STEM category lead, 2025
Biography
Most large organisations now have an inclusion policy that reads well on paper. What they often lack is a visible external figure from a technical or scientific career who can hold the room without flattening the topic into a wellness session. That gap is the territory O’Neill works in.
He came to public attention as the first openly LGBTQ+ presenter to host a wildlife series for a major network, Giants on Curiosity Stream in 2023. The work since has built out, with Snow Leopards with Dan O’Neill for Love Nature and Sky TV, Zombie Animals for National Geographic, and the BBC One co-presenter role on Tiger Island. Snow Leopards was nominated for a Wildscreen Panda Award.
The scientific credential is current, not retired. O’Neill is an Honorary Research Associate and Lecturer at the University of Bristol and a PhD candidate at Bristol Veterinary School, working on secretive carnivores and the field technology used to monitor them. He was the Snow Leopard Trust’s first Explorer in Residence and has run expedition work across Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, India, Mexico, Guyana, and the Yucatan.
For corporate audiences this combination matters. Inclusion content delivered by a working field biologist sits differently in the room from inclusion content delivered as a topic in its own right. Attitude Magazine named him a 101 Trailblazer in 2025, leading the STEM category, which is the relevant credential when an organisation is staffing a Pride keynote or an ERG event with someone whose authority is built outside the corporate world.
Key speaking topics
- LGBTQ+ visibility in STEM and field science
- Resilience and decision-making in remote environments
- Conservation and biodiversity storytelling
- Sustainability framed through field reporting, not policy
- Expedition leadership under physical and logistical pressure
- Wildlife filmmaking and the craft of translating science to audiences
Ideal for
- Heads of DEI, ERG leads, and Pride event organisers commissioning external speakers with a credential outside the corporate sector
- CSR and sustainability teams looking for conservation storytelling that does not lean on branded ESG language
- Internal conference programmes building a culture or values strand around visibility and resilience
- Audiences in science, technology, and engineering functions where a working scientist lands more credibly than a generalist motivational speaker
Audience outcomes
- A current example of what authentic visibility looks like in a non-corporate STEM career
- Named field stories from snow leopard, tiger, and jaguar work that anchor abstract inclusion or resilience points in concrete terrain
- A vocabulary for talking about sustainability that draws on biodiversity fieldwork rather than ESG framework language
- A clearer view of how external storytelling moves a complex scientific subject inside a general audience
Talks
A field narrative drawn from snow leopard, tiger, and jaguar expeditions across Central Asia, India, and Latin America.
Key takeaways:
- How decisions get made when conditions, equipment, and timing all change at once
- What sustained scientific work in remote terrain actually requires of a team
- How field stories translate to audiences who will never see the terrain
A science-led talk on behavioural manipulation across species, drawn from the territory of National Geographic’s Zombie Animals.
Key takeaways:
- How parasites alter host behaviour, with specific named cases
- What this tells us about evolutionary pressure and biological systems
- How complex science can be made legible without being diluted
A talk for Pride and ERG audiences on representation in STEM and field science, drawn from O’Neill’s experience as the first openly LGBTQ+ presenter to host a major-network wildlife series.
Key takeaways:
- What changes when a technical career has visible role models
- The practical content of confidence and self-presentation in a public-facing scientific role
- How inclusion lands more credibly when delivered from outside the corporate sector