Dr Elizabeth Finkel on Genetically Modified Food
A Journalist’s Journey Through the Issues
With the cost of food skyrocketing worldwide and the dire concerns over global warming, the question of how to farm sustainably has never been more acute. It has also never been more contentious. There is enormous opposition to GM crops yet they offer farmers the ability to use less pesticide, less water and less nitrogen. In northern China they have improved yields, reduced costs and slashed pesticide poisonings down to a quarter of what they once were.
The public rely on journalists as intermediaries in this debate. In this Dean’s lecture, science journalist and author Elizabeth Finkel will take the audience along on her journey through the issues.
Dr Elizabeth Finkel
Elizabeth Finkel is a cofounder and contributing editor of Cosmos magazine. She holds a PhD in biochemistry and spent ten years as a professional research scientist before becoming an award-winning journalist. She has written for Science, Lancet, Nature Medicine, New Scientist and The Age, among others, and has broadcast for ABC Radio National. Her numerous awards include the Amgen and MBF awards for medical journalism and the Michael Daley award for best radio feature broadcast. In 2007 she was a finalist in the Eureka Award for Medical Journalism and won the Bell Awards' categories for 'Best feature writer' and 'Best analytical writer' for her article 'Organic Foods examined'.
In 2005 her book Stem Cells: Controversy at the frontiers of Science won a Queensland Premier’s Literary award. It was also a finalist for the Australian government Eureka award for promoting the public understanding of science. She is currently working on a popular book on Genomics to be published by Melbourne University Press in 2009.
The Lecture
Due to a power failure, a recording of this lecture is not available. However, Dr Finkel has written an article about her presentation:
