Almost everyone (including me, and CKCO) who wrote or broadcast about the new zoonoses and public health centre that opened yesterday at the University of Guelph led their story or column with "what timing" or "talk about timing," and you can't blame them. How often does a global zoonotic disease outbreak happen, let alone conveniently coincide with with the ribbon-cutting for a new centre dedicated to zoonotic disease? University of Guelph scientists have been appearing everywhere in the media; investing in science gives them a place to work and study, and enables them to be in a position to respond to potential crises, such as the H1N1 outbreak.
OWEN ROBERTS
Owen Roberts is an agricultural journalist and communications instructor based in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. He is a trustee on the Global Foundation for Agricultural Journalism and an associate editor (communications) for the Journal of Agromedicine. Previously, Owen was president of the International Forum for Agricultural Journalists, an agricultural communications faculty member at the University of Illinois, and research communications director at the University of Guelph. His programs and research papers have been recognized through awards from the Journal of Applied Communications, the National Agri-Marketing Association, the Association for Communications Excellence and the Canadian Farm Writers' Federation.