We Are Speaking w/ Dr. Tara C. Smith

Dr. Tara C. Smith is a gem. It’s that simple. She’s a gem. 

Her CV is not so simple. It’s stacked. Tara has a Bachelors in Biology from Yale, a PhD in Microbiology from University of Toledo, post-doc training in molecular epidemiology at University of Michigan. She was an Associate Professor at University of Iowa and the director of its College of Public Health’s Center for Emerging Infectious Disease. For the past 9 years she’s been a Professor in the College of Public Health at Kent State University.

With all of the pedigree and accolades, peer-reviewed journal articles and academic appointments, Tara spends much of her time on science communication, science literacy and overcoming vaccine hesitancy for the masses. She is very active in science communication and outreach. She has maintained a science blog since 2015, and has written books on Group A and B Streptococcus, and Ebola. A second book on Ebola was published by MIT Press in 2016. She also writes about infectious disease for several national sites, pens a column for SELF.com, and serves as a member of the advisory board of the Zombie Research Society.

This woman is incredibly smart, forward thinking and a relentless advocate for science literacy.