Investigative journalist Carey Gillam will deliver the first talk of the fall 2019 Agri-Food Workshop lecture series, “Monsanto Trials and Monsanto Papers,” casting a critical eye on industry influence and pesticide science.
The talk, hosted by the Department of Anthropology in Arts & Sciences and the Institute for Public Health, will take place at 1 p.m. Aug. 30 in Seigle Hall, Room 204, on the Danforth Campus of Washington University in St. Louis. It is free and open to the public.
Gillam is a veteran journalist, researcher and writer with more than 25 years of experience in the news industry covering corporate America. Since 1998, Gillam’s work has focused on digging into the big business of food and agriculture.
A former senior correspondent for Reuters international news service, she is currently research director for consumer group U.S. Right to Know. Gillam said that she specializes in finding the story behind the spin, uncovering both the risks and rewards of the evolving new age of agriculture.
Gillam’s areas of expertise include biotech crop technology; agrichemicals and pesticide product development; and the environmental impacts of American food production. Gillam has been recognized as one of the top journalists in the country covering these issues.
Gillam is author of the 2017 book “Whitewash: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science.” The book won the 2018 Society of Environmental Journalists’ Rachel Carson Environmental Book Award.
Other upcoming talks in the Agri-Food Workshop lecture series include:
- Crops of the past and future: Natalie Mueller, assistant professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, on reconstructing the agroecology of lost crops; and Allison Miller, of Saint Louis University, on perennial crops and the future of agriculture. 1 p.m. Sept. 30 (location to be announced later).
- Fieldnotes on the Future of Food Production: Bradley Jones on learning processes among alternative farmers and James Babbitt on robotic dairies. Both speakers are PhD candidates in anthropology in Arts & Sciences. 1 p.m. Oct. 18 (location to be announced later).
For more information, visit the Agriculture and Food Studies website or contact Bradley Jones at 314-935-5346 or bradleyjones@wustl.edu or Glenn Stone at 314-935-5252 or stone@wustl.edu.
