On Friday, May 28th, the UCR School of Public Policy will be holding a virtual seminar on “How to Fight the Global Security Threat of Disinformation” by Tara Haelle.

According to Haelle, the proliferation and increasing prominence of misinformation, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories in our daily lives and in political discourse represent one of the biggest threats to humanity in the 21st century. She will discuss what drives disinformation and conspiracy theories, why they pose such a threat, how to know what is true, and how to fight disinformation.

Haelle is a freelance science journalist who specializes in writing about vaccines, public health, disparities, misinformation, and medical research. According to her profile, “Her work appears in The New York Times, National Geographic, NPR, Scientific American, Elemental, O Magazine, Texas Monthly, and elsewhere. She recently served on an NIH panel to develop COVID-19 Vaccination Communication recommendations. As the Medical Studies Core Topic Leader for the Association of Health Care Journalists, she creates resources and training for journalists reporting on medical research.”

Alexandra Morales, a second year public policy student, said, “This event is so important because there has been a wave of misinformation in the media and this only has been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been increasingly difficult to find reliable and factual information about so many important topics in the news. I am excited to hear Tara Haelle share strategies on how to fight disinformation.”

This event is open to the general public. Attendees must register to attend. Registrants will receive an email in advance of the event with a link to join. 

Since 2014, the UCR School of Public Policy Seminar Series has been bringing policy makers, practitioners, and researchers to campus to talk about various policy issues facing the region and beyond. During the shelter-in-place order for California, all events are being held online. For more information about the series, visit spp.ucr.edu/events.