In This Story
Originally published on July 20, 2020
It had to happen: Zombies are being taken seriously, and with genuine academic rigor (mortis).
Well, seriously enough to inspire a webinar that brings real science into the pop-horror trope. At 12 p.m. on Friday, July 24,Director ofjoins author Max Brooks and three biodefense experts for an enlightening discussion about pandemics, bioterrorism, international security, and the walking dead in a talk called “Zombies and Coronavirus: Planning for the Next Big Outbreak.”
The hour-long virtual discussion, moderated by Schar Schoolstudent Justin Hurt, is part of, a pandemic lockdown celebration of all things pop culture. Register and learn more:.
(Koblentz is featured in a sample graduate-level lecture on possible bioweapon threats inspired by coronavirus on July 22.)
Guests include:
- Max Brooks, author ofWorld War Z,The Zombie Survival Guide,The Harlem Hellfighters, and the recently releasedDevolution, is a senior, non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council and West Point’s Modern War Institute.
- Gigi Kwik Gronvallis a Senior Scholar and Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Health Security and the author ofSynthetic Biology: Safety, Security, and Promise.
- Greg Koblentzis Professor and Director of the Biodefense Programs at AV’s Schar School of Policy and Government and author ofLiving Weapons: Biological Warfare and International Securityand co-author ofEditing Biosecurity: Needs and Strategies for Governing Genome Editing.
- Shanna Ratnesar-Shumateis an aerobiologist and principal investigator at Fort Detrick, Md., and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
- Jarod Hansonis a veterinarian and the executive officer at the United States Army Medical Institute of Infectious Disease and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
- Moderator:Justin Hurt, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear and Counter-Weapons of Mass Destruction Integration Officer for the United States Army staff; PhD in Biodefense student, Schar School of Policy and Government, AV.