Salt Lake Community College will host The Atlantic’s Ed Yong at its annual Tanner Forum on Social Ethics program via live stream. The Oct. 13 event will stream from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Yong, a prolific science writer and author, will discuss an array of topics during the program, with a primary focus on the impact of COVID-19 in the United States and covering a global pandemic as a reporter. The event, which is free and open to the public, will end with a question-and-answer session.
“In a matter of months, a new coronavirus has humbled and humiliated the planet’s most powerful nation,” said Yong in a press release promoting the event. “America has failed to protect its people, leaving them with illness and financial ruin, and careening between inaction and ineptitude. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a generation-defining challenge that has left past vulnerabilities exposed and future possibilities unclear.”
For the past eight months, Yong has primarily covered stories spanning the many angles of COVID-19: from the scientific details about the virus to interviewing Bill Gates about the pandemic’s hindering effects.
“Yong is an excellent person for this event,” said Joy Tlou, SLCC’s public relations director. “He is a talented, decorated writer with a high passion level for spreading the word about the virus.”
In addition to The Atlantic, Yong has written for National Geographic, Wired, The New Yorker, Nature, New Scientist, Scientific American and gave a TED Talk on mind-controlling parasites which has been watched by over 1.5 million people, according to his professional website. He boasts several awards, including the National Academies Keck Science Communication Award and the Neil and Susan Sheehan Award for investigative journalism.
Attendees must register for this free event.
Join and participate in the daytime student panel
The Tanner Forum on Social Ethics daytime student panel will take place Oct. 13 at noon.
Students will have an opportunity to ask Yong questions about the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on higher education, as well as his career in journalism and writing and how he has combined it with his skill and passion for the natural sciences and biochemistry.
The panel will be moderated by Melissa Hardy, an assistant professor of biology, and include student panelists Amie Schaeffer and Freddy Pascacio.
Students must pre-register to be sent a link the morning of the event.
Students can also submit questions before the event.
