NPR host Ira Flatow wins Nierenberg Prize

Ira Flatow, science journalist and host of NPR’s

Science Friday

has been selected by Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the William Nierenberg family to receive the 2010 Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest.

Flatow will speak following the awards ceremony at 7 p.m. on Nov. 9 in the main auditorium at the Robert Paine Scripps Forum for Science, Society, and the Environment, 8610 Kennel Way in La Jolla.

Although admission is free, reservations are required, and seating and parking are limited. To reserve a ticket, visit

www.nierenbergprize.eventbrite.com

or contact Visitors Services at (858) 534-4109.

The Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest was created to honor the memory of William A. Nierenberg, who was director of UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography for 21 years. A bronze medal and a $25,000 prize are awarded each year for outstanding contributions to science in the public interest. The award was created and is supported by gifts from the Nierenberg Family.

Previous Nierenberg Prize winners include Harvard naturalist E.O. Wilson, newsman Walter Cronkite, marine ecologist Jane Lubchenco, primatologist Dame Jane Goodall, nature filmmaker Sir David Attenborough, technology innovator Gordon Moore, genomics pioneer J. Craig Venter, climate researcher James Hansen and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, (2009).