Simon Chapman

Simon Chapman (38) Researcher/ Presenter is Head of Physics at Morecambe High School in Lanacashire and makes jungle expeditions whenever he can. His travels have taken him to tropical forests all over the world, from Borneo and Irian Jaya to the Amazon. The story of his search for a giant ape in the Bolivian rainforest, 'The Monster of the Madidi' was published by the Aurum Press (hardback, March 2001; paperback, March 2002).

Since then, Egmont Childrens Books commissioned him to write and Illustrate eight children's books about different types of exploration. The first of these, 'Explorers Wanted: In the jungle' was published in January 2003. The book was promoted by Waterstones booksellers as New talent for 2003. Two further titles in the Explorers Wanted series, 'Under the Sea' and 'On Safari' have been published to date with the fourth in the series, 'In the Wilderness', which is about an expedition in the Siberian Taiga, due for publication in October 2003.

Simon has also had numerous articles and illustrations published in magazines and newspapers in Britain and the US, including The Independent on Sunday (The Lost World; 9 Sept 2001), BBC Wildlife and Wanderlust, has written and recorded for BBC Radio 4 and lectured on the organisation of jungle expeditions at the Royal Geographical Society, of which he is a fellow.