evenbriteThe West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission’s Chancellor’s STEM Speakers Series will continue next Thursday (September 8) with a presentation by Jennifer Gardy, a senior scientist at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. During a lecture titled “Bugs, Bones and Botany, Gardy, who calls herself a disease detective, will share her experiences in hunting for the newest deadly diseases and trying to stop them before they spread. She has been interviewed recently regarding the Zika virus outbreak.

Gardy will delve into the real factors that separate a good forensic scientist from a bad one and show that it has less to do with technology—and more to do with careful observation of the natural world.

The event will take place on September 8 at 7 p.m. at the Culture Center. Tickets are free, but there is currently a waiting list. Following the 45-minute lecture, Gardy will participate in a Q&A with the audience and then sign copies of her book, “It’s Catching: The Infectious World of Germs and Microbes.” Details are available at wvresearch.org.

The Chancellor’s STEM Speaker Series, which most recently featured National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore, is organized by the Higher Education Policy Commission’s Division of Science and Research with support from a federal grant from the National Science Foundation. The goal of the series is to promote the importance of research and the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields.

The Division of Science and Research directs the federal EPSCoR program in West Virginia, while also managing other state and federally-funded academic research programs across the state. The program provides strategic leadership for infrastructure advancement and development of competitive research opportunities in STEM disciplines.