Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
January 12, 2005
Discovery Channel, CBC hosts to speak at U of G symposium
Two award-winning science broadcasters will address the theme “Alternative Energy Technologies and Energy Conservation” at the University of Guelph’s 11th annual Environmental Science Symposium Jan. 22 in Rozanski Hall.
Jay Ingram, co-host and producer of the Discovery Channel's award-winning show Daily Planet, will give the keynote address at 9:15 a.m., and Bob McDonald, host of CBC Radio’s Quirks & Quarks, will give the endnote address at 3:30 p.m.
Prior to joining Discovery, Ingram, who is also a science columnist for the Toronto Star, hosted Quirks & Quarks from 1979 to 1992. Three of Ingram’s eight books have won Canadian Science Writers' Awards. In 1984, he was awarded the Sandford Fleming Medal from the Royal Canadian Institute for his work popularizing science. He also earned the 1997 Royal Society of Canada McNeil Medal for raising public awareness of science. In 2000, Ingram received the Michael Smith Award for science promotion from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
McDonald, who received an honorary doctorate of letters from U of G in 2003, has been communicating science internationally through television, radio, print and live presentations for 30 years. He is the author of two science books for children and has contributed to numerous science textbooks, newspapers and magazines. His latest book is Measuring the Earth With a Stick. McDonald was the 2001 recipient of both the Michael Smith Award and the Sir Sanford Fleming Medal.
Throughout the symposium, a wide range of speakers representing the energy industry, government, education, environmental groups and media will be sharing their expertise on energy use and the environment.
Speakers include Arthur Weaver, president of Renovus Energy Inc., who will discuss the social challenges involved in implementing renewable energy, and U of G engineering professor Dorothy Remmer, who will present perspectives that challenge economic decision-making in centralized electrical distribution and the benefits of alternative energies.
Also slated to speak are Bill Tharp, CEO of LEAP, a diversified management company; Jane Kearns, director of Pollution Probe; Jack Gibbons, chair of the Ontario Clean Air Alliance; and Ontario Green Party leader Frank de Jong.
The day will also feature a workshop led by Planet in Focus, an international environmental film and video festival, and displays on environmental issues, energy technology and public-interest groups.
The conference is organized by environmental science undergraduate students. Cost is $10 general, $5 for students. To register online, visit www.uoguelph.ca/~envsymp.
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt (519) 824-4120, Ext. 53338, or Rachelle Cooper, Ext. 56982.
