ASPB EDUCATION FORUM

Grant Awards Program Update: Food for Thought Lecture Series
Steven Strauss and ORB Stream GMO-Related Outreach Videos

Steven Strauss

In 2006 the ASPB Education Foundation Grant Awards Program (GAP) provided funds for the Food for Thought public lecture series. This series was developed by ASPB member Steven Strauss and his colleague David Harry, both of Oregon State University’s (OSU’s) Outreach in Biology Program (ORB). The goal of the lecture series is to present the average person with accurate and objective information on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The idea is that an educated public would engage in more informed discussion about this often controversial topic. To that end, renowned experts in the fields of science, philosophy, journalism, and ethics offer lectures that “translate” facts and issues related to GMO technology into plain language.

The lecture series began in 2005 on the OSU campus and drew more than 150 people to each of the seven events. Two presentations were recorded and podcast, generating thousands of viewers. The program continued expanding, and Strauss’s GAP monies have been used to tape and podcast additional lectures.

The ORB hosted the Food for Thought lecture series events in the 2006–07 academic year using funding from the College of Forestry and the College of Agricultural Sciences. Four public lectures were presented from October 2006 through April 2007. Power-Point presentations and streaming video (for two of the four lectures) are available online at the ORB website at http://wwwdata.forestry.oregonstate.edu/orb/index.htm.

For 2007–08, ORB drew on funds from the Wait and Lois Rising Lectureship Fund and partnered with the OSU History Department’s Horning Endowment to cosponsor “Food for Thought: History, Technology, Gastronomy” (see below). All lectures are open to the public and are broadly advertised through local and campus newspapers, campus flyers, e-mail, and online postings to campus websites (e.g.,wwwdata.forestry.oregonstate.edu/orb/events/lectureseries/index.htm).

In addition, local science teachers receive e-mailed notifications using a listserv maintained by the Science Education Partnerships program (www.seps.org), administered through the Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing (www.cgrb.oregonstate.edu/outreach). This year’s lectures are designed to provide broader appeal in emphasizing the interplay between technological developments in agriculture and food science in the context of changing social and political expectations.

Presentations have been archived using a combination of PowerPoint slides and streaming video. All materials are available on the ORB website or directly at http://wwwdata.forestry.oregonstate.edu/orb/events/lectureseries/index.htm. In addition to streaming video, several of the recorded presentations have been broadcast on television through the Oregon Public Affairs Network (http://www.opan.org/). Finally, study guides are being prepared for use by middle and high school science teachers to help them take better advantage of the presentation materials from the lectures. When completed, these will also be made available through the ORB website.

ASPB Education Forum (continued): Plants Invade Boston!