Thursday, May 29, 2008
2nd Annual Public Engagement and Science Communication Symposium

The Second Annual Public Engagement and Science Communication Symposium, sponsored by the Cornell Center for Life Science Enterprise, was a resounding success!  The half day event drew a crowd of over 120 people this past May 13th in G10 Biotech.  Attendees included faculty and staff from over 65 different departments and entities across campus as well as members of the outside public.

This year's $10,000 prize for the faculty member who best communicates their research to a general audience went to Eric Nelson, professor of Plant Biology and Plant-Microbe Biology, for his poster titled "Development of Biocontrol Products from Vermicomposted Dairy Manure".  Posters were judged by a panel of community members including local high school and community college students, business leaders and scientists from outside fields of study, who rated the posters for their effectiveness in communicating science to a broad audience.  A 2nd place prized of $1,000 for travel was awarded to Associate Professor Dan Luo of Biological and Environmental Engineering for "Multiplexed Pathogen Detection Via a Portable Fixcytometer".

The day’s events included a presentation by chemist, poet, and Nobel laureate Roald Hoffmann and Redshift Productions, a panel discussion on Science Communication and Public Engagement featuring Hoffmann, Jeff Nisbet, Director of Legislative and Public Affairs at the National Science Foundation, and Gaspar Taroncher-Oldenburg, Executive Editor of SciBX, Nature Publishing Group and moderated by Bruce Lewenstein, Professor of Science Communication.  The keynote address was presented by Jeff Nisbet, titled Communicating Science Broadly, in which he discussed the need for emerging scientists to be able to communicate their work to the public as well as current NSF initiatives in outreach.

For more information, please see the press release.