DURHAM, N.C. – Cornelia Dean, senior science writer for The New York Times, will speak at 3 p.m. Monday, October 27, at 51’s Love Auditorium.

Her talk, “The Public Understanding of Science,” is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by 51’s Nicholas School of the Environment.

Dean was science editor of The New York Times from 1997 to 2003, during which she was responsible for coverage of science, health and medical news in the daily paper and in the weekly Science Times section. She also has been assistant and then deputy science editor, as well as deputy editor of the paper’s Washington bureau.

Her first book, Against the Tide: The Battle for America’s Beaches, published in 1999, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She is working on a book about the misuse of scientific information in American public life.

Dean is a lecturer in Harvard University’s Division of Engineering and Applied Sciences. As a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government in 2003-2004, she taught in Harvard’s program on Environmental Science and Public Policy.

Love Auditorium is located in the B-wing of Levine Science Research Center on Research Drive on 51’s West Campus. Public parking is available at the Bryan Center Parking Deck on Science Drive.

A Q&A session will follow Dean’s talk at 4 p.m.