An Asian man with short hair looks straight at a camera while sitting in a chair. He is wearing a fun blue patterned shirt.
Science journalist Ed Yong. Photo courtesy of Penguin Random House Speakers Bureau.

Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Ed Yong will be on Virginia Tech’s Blacksburg campus Wednesday, October 19.

    A science staff writer for The Atlantic, Yong was named “the most important and impactful journalist" of 2020 by Poynter and awarded journalism’s top honor, the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, for his coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. His book I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life was named the NPR Great Read of 2016, and An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us (2022) has been called “thrilling” and “dazzling” in mainstream media reviews.

    His 2:30 p.m. talk at the Moss Arts Center, “The Art of Science Journalism,” is part of the Hugh and Ethel Kelly lecture series. Hosted by the Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science in partnership with the College of Engineering, the event is free and open to the public, but registration is requested. 

    Yong also will meet with graduate students for a special communicating science session at 11 a.m. October 19 in NCB 170. Registration is required and seating is limited. Please register at this link if you are committed to attending the graduate student session, which will be moderated by this year’s president of the student Communicating Science Club, Sara Richards.

    Attendees at both events will be asked to wear masks.

    For more details about Yong’s writing career and his October 19 talk, read the VTx story “Pulitzer-winning author to explore the art of science journalism.”