Wonderful committment to Education and Public Outreach

November 19, 2008

Ivan Semeniuk joins U of T's Dunlap Institute as Science-Journalist-in-Residence
Noted science journalist Ivan Semeniuk has joined U of T's new Dunlap
Institute as science-journalist-in-residence.

Semeniuk has been US-bureau chief at New Scientist magazine since
2005. Prior to New Scientist, he spent 12 seasons as a columnist and
then full-time producer with the award-winning daily science magazine
show "Daily Planet" on Discovery Channel Canada. Semeniuk was on staff
at the Ontario Science Centre for 13 years, where he developed
exhibits and science programs and was widely known for his radio and
television appearances as the centre's astronomy expert. He is also a
contributing editor to Sky News magazine, and has written for Sky &
Telescope, Astronomy Magazine, and The Globe and Mail, among other
publications.

During his tenure at the Dunlap Institute, Semeniuk will apply his
journalistic skills to documenting the world-wide quest to explore and
understand the cosmos. He will podcast, blog, and create online video
segments that will help open the ideas and lives of professional
astronomers to an international web audience.

"Having a science journalist at the Dunlap Institute reflects our
serious commitment to raising public awareness of science", says Peter
Martin, interim director and chair of U of T's Department of Astronomy
and Astrophysics. Semeniuk's term coincides with The International
Year of Astronomy 2009, a worldwide celebration of the 400th
anniversary of Galileo's first use of the telescope and the
contributions that the field of astronomy has made to our
understanding since that time.

Semeniuk holds an undergraduate degree in astronomy and physics from
the University of Toronto and a master's degree in science journalism
from Boston University. In 2007 he was named a Knight Fellow in
Science Journalism at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His
astronomy documentary "Hubble's Canvas", which aired on Oasis Channel,
was recently nominated for a Gemini Award.

U of T's Dunlap Institute will further advance Canada's leadership in
astronomy and astrophysics. In addition to innovative programs in
public outreach, the Dunlap Institute will focus on research,
development of scientific instrumentation for world-class
observatories, teaching and advanced training.