Discovery Channel Host to Give ASTRA Talk

March 20, 2008 - News Release

Jay Ingram, co-host of Discovery Channel's Daily Planet show, is giving a public talk at the University of Guelph's science complex atrium March 25 at 7:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the general public.

Hosted by the University's Arts, Science, Technology Research Alliance (ASTRA), Ingram will discuss the scientific and philosophical phenomenon of consciousness.

"This topic fits well with ASTRA because the organization aims to further links between arts and sciences and the issue of consciousness requires scientific, technical, cultural and social forms of knowledge to truly understand it," said Don Bruce, dean of the College of Arts, which founded ASTRA. "People such as Jay Ingram who are able to unite the arts and sciences help us understand the complexity and interconnectedness of both the natural and social environments in which we live."

Ingram has hosted and helped produce Daily Planet since its inception in 1995.

Before that he hosted The Talk Show, a CBC Radio series about language, which won a Science in Society Journalism Award. He was also the host of CBC Radio's Quirks and Quarks for 12 years; during that time the show won two Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists Awards, including one for best host.

Ingram has also been a contributing editor to Owl Magazine and has written a number of books, three of which won Canadian Science Writers' Awards.

He has received several awards acknowledging his contributions to popularizing science, including the Sandford Fleming Medal from the Royal Canadian Institute in 1984, the Royal Society of Canada McNeil Medal for the Public Awareness of Science in 1997 and the Michael Smith Award for Science Promotion from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada in 2000.

When he's not hosting Daily Planet or producing his weekly segment, Jay's Journal, Ingram writes a weekly science column for the Toronto Star.

For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt, 519-824-4120, Ext. 53338, l.hunt@exec.uoguelph.ca, or Deirdre Healey, Ext. 56982, d.healey@exec.uoguelph.ca.

University of Guelph
50 Stone Road East
Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1
Canada
519-824-4120