SPOKANE, Wash. — Thomas J. Hoban, an international expert on the growing use of biotechnology in society, will discuss the public perceptions of the industry during a 1 p.m. talk at Washington State University Spokane Thursday, Feb. 21. The lecture will be held in the new Health Sciences Building on the Riverpoint campus, 310 N. Riverpoint Blvd., Room 110B.
For the past 10 years, the professor and extension specialist in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at North Carolina State University has researched how American agriculture, the food industry, public officials and others can most effectively respond to issues surrounding biotechnology. His most recent research project examines what global leaders think and know about biotechnology.
Hoban also will speak at the Pullman campus on “Public Perceptions of Biotechnology” at 4 p.m., Feb. 20, in Todd Hall, Room 331. Both lectures are open to the public without charge.
Hoban earned his doctorate in rural sociology from Iowa State University and two master’s degrees in agricultural journalism and water resource management from the University of Wisconsin. He received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Illinois.
WSU’s Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service is sponsoring both lectures. The Pullman lecture also is sponsored by the College of Agriculture and Home Economics and the Department of Rural Sociology. WSU Spokane and the Biotechnology Association of the Spokane Region are sponsoring the WSU Spokane lecture.
For more information, contact Edward Weber of WSU’s Thomas S. Foley Institute for Public Policy and Public Service, (509) 335-2455.
