WEBINAR: Sound Science and Sound Journalism in an Era of Fake News

Island Press, in partnership with the Security and Sustainability Forum, is hosting an upcoming webinar featuring veteran journalist Carey Gillam, who is Research Director for the non-profit U.S. Right to Know and author of Whitewash: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science.

Carey will be joined by Dr. Dana Barr, Environmental Health Professor at Emory’s Rollins School of Public Health for a conversation on the impacts of glyphosate on our food and health and how this research serves as a case study for the importance of scientific and journalistic rigor. The discussion will be moderated by journalist Paul Thacker and will be followed by an audience question and answer session.

In this webinar, our panelists will look at the hurdles facing pesticide research as a case study for how journalists and scientists conduct their work in an era of fake news and corporate influence. The panelists’ investigations into the negative impact of glyphosate and other pesticides will illustrate the importance of seeking source documents and independent studies.

Meet the Panel:

Carey Gillam
Carey Gillam is a veteran journalist, researcher, author and a former senior correspondent for Reuters’ international news service. Carey specializes in finding the story behind the spin–uncovering both the risks and rewards of the evolving new age of agriculture. Gillam’s areas of experience include biotech crop technology, agrichemicals and pesticide product development, and the environmental impacts of American food production.

Dana Boyd Barr
Dana Boyd Barr is a Professor of Exposure Science and Environmental Health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Health. Prior to joining Emory, Dr. Barr was employed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 23 years. Her research focuses on understanding how people are exposed to environmental chemicals, in particular pesticides, and adverse outcomes of those exposures. Much of her work focuses on prenatal exposures and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Dr. Barr has authored or coauthored over 300 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and many published abstracts.

Paul Thacker
Paul D. Thacker is a freelance writer living in Spain. He has written for numerous outlets on scientific integrity including the New York Times, Slate, Los Angeles Times, Journal of the American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, BMJ, and Pacific Standard. For several years, he worked as a Senate Investigator, helping to push through legislative changes to scientific transparency including the Physician Payments Sunshine Act