NOVA host coming to WV

Next week in Morgantown, a special symposium on energy will be bringing one of the nation’s most prominent faces in the field.

  David Pogue is a columnist for the New York Times, who also works as the host of the PBS program Nova Science Now.

Pogue is the keynote speaker for the Science, Technology and Research Symposium, or STAR symposium, coming up next week in Morgantown. Pogue says science is a field where there’s a lot of demand—a number of job opportunities are available—but not much supply—meaning, there just aren’t enough people to fill those jobs.

“We need to get past this thing that science is for elites and science is a rare, dorky subject. I think the trickling down will happen once that begins. The President has made it a priority in science education, he hasn’t always been backed up by other lawmakers, but it has to become a priority nationally, before it becomes cool to be a science teacher, to know science and love science. It’s tough to see how anything is going to change soon,” Pogue said.

According to the Science and Engineering Readiness Index, prepared at the American Institute of Physics, West Virginia struggles mightily with preparing young people for careers in science, and related fields.

Pogue says innovation—the likes of smartphones and cloud technologies almost always require creative science, so a passion for science is important within society. In fact, it can feel magical.

“The feeling of having power over your environment feels magical. My wife and I live on opposite sides of the country. We have mastered the arts of communication, we have had video chats when I Was in Russia and she was in her car. It certainly feels magical,” Pogue said.

The symposium is October 22 and 23. The theme is “The Evolution of Energy: From Scarcity to Abundance.”