Dr. Jinnie Garrett, a Hamilton professor and conference organizer said, "This conference is in line with Hamilton's desire to heighten awareness of science and emphasize the importance of written and oral communication. It ties the two objectives together in what we think will be an interesting and productive weekend."
Among participants in the conference are Richard Harris, a science correspondent at National Public Radio (NPR) , where he has reported about science, medicine and the environment for 12 years. Mr. Harris graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1980 with a degree in biology, then worked as a science reporter at the San Francisco Examiner before joining NPR. He has won many awards, including a Peabody for investigative reporting about the tobacco industry; two American Association for the Advancement of Sciences science journalism awards; the Aviation/Space Writers' top award; and the Lewis Thomas Award for coverage of life sciences. He is also president of the National Association of Science Writers.
The conference will open on Saturday evening with a banquet, followed by plenary speaker Dr. Kristin Shrader-Frechette, University of Notre Dame, whose topic is "Communicating Science versus Doing a Snow Job."
Sunday's program will feature workshops and group discussions with science faculty from Hamilton College, MIT, the State University of New York at Albany and Tufts University.
On Monday morning, Dr. Jo Ann Valenti, Brigham Young University; Thomas Bass, author and Hamilton College professor; Harris, and Jacques Rivard, CBC correspondent on the environment, will discuss "How Well do Scientists Communicate to the Media." The afternoon panel will discuss "Communication Between Scientists and the General Public." Participants will include Dr. Trevor Pinch and Dr. Bruce Lewenstein of Cornell University, and Dr. Donna Gerardi from the National Academy of Sciences.
For more information, or to register for the conference, contact Dr. Jinnie Garrett at (315) 859-4716, or visit the Hamilton College Communicating Science web site at www.hamilton. edu/www/communicatingscience/CSprogram.htm.
