David Attenborough sends student handwritten letter after she sent him her dissertation

‘Ready to take on climate change with him’

A university student was left shocked after Sir David Attenborough sent her a handwritten letter congratulating her on her dissertation.

Third-year student Emma Tait from Newcastle, UK sent the broadcaster a copy of her university work titled “The environmental policies and practices implemented at UK music festivals.”

While the 21-year-old might have expected to receive an automatic response from Attenborough’s office, she was later delighted when she received a personal letter from the national treasure.

Posting a photograph of the letter on Twitter, the Liverpool John Moores University student wrote: “Posted a copy of my dissertation to David Attenborough and I got a handwritten letter back!

“Ready to take on climate change with him.”

In the letter, the 93-year-old wrote: “Dear Emma Tait, Thank you for sending me a copy of your dissertation. I look forward to reading it. Yours sincerely, David Attenborough.”

Speaking to The Independent about the response, Tait says: “I sent a letter to David Attenborough on Thursday 13 June and received his response on Monday 17 June, so he must have replied straight away.

“When I first saw the envelope I thought ‘who is sending me a handwritten letter?’. Normally I just receive bank statements.”

While she initially struggled to read the star’s handwriting and ascertain who the letter was from, she soon realised that the official paper stamp at the bottom of the note indicated that it was from Attenborough.

“It’s weird to think he could be sat at home at his desk right now reading my dissertation,” she adds.

“When I was writing the dissertation, I was thinking about how, as a student, I could make a difference and thought it would be great to get Attenborough to have a read about my research into the environmental impact of UK festivals. There are so many things that festivals could be doing to help reduce plastic pollution.”

On what she’ll do with the letter, Tait says: “It’s going to get framed and hung up on my wall.”

Tait’s tweet has garnered more than 18,000 likes on the social media platform, with several users expressing their glee at the response from the naturalist.

“As if this made me cry??? [sic],” wrote one user.

Another commented on the post: “How good is this!”

“This is the best thing I’ve seen all day,” added another.

Tait told her followers that she “can’t quite believe” Attenborough responded to her and is “in shock” at the heartwarming reply.

Last month, Attenborough described plastic pollution as an “unfolding catastrophe” in support of a report that highlighted the devastating impact plastic pollution is having around the world.

The report, carried out by charities Tearfund, Fauna & Flora International and WasteAid, warned of a public health emergency, claiming that between 400,000 and one million people die each year due to preventable diseases linked to mismanaged plastic waste in developing countries.

“This report is one of the first to highlight the impacts of plastic pollution not just on wildlife but also on the world’s poorest people,” Attenborough wrote in the i newspaper.

“It is high time we turn our attention fully to one of the most pressing problems of today – averting the plastic pollution crisis – not only for the health of our planet, but for the wellbeing of people around the world.”

Attenborough’s popular BBC One series Blue Planet II focused on highlighting the issues surrounding plastic waste, and urged global companies to minimise the damage caused by the plastics they produce.