WATERLOO - Pro-science journalist and blogger Chris Mooney, once named one of Wired magazine's ten sexiest geeks, will deliver the University of Waterloo's Science and Technology Matters Lecture this week.

Mooney, who holds a prestigious Knight Science Journalism Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will give a public talk Friday entitled Why Scientific and Technological Literacy is Important. It takes place from 9 to 10 a.m. in the Humanities Theatre, J. G. Hagey Hall of the Humanities. He is also contributing editor to Science Progress and senior correspondent for The American Prospect magazine.

"Chris Mooney is an accomplished public speaker and gifted writer who is a strong advocate for responsible scientific and technological advances in society," said Ken Coates, dean of the faculty of arts. "There is widespread agreement that the main challenges of this century revolve around science and technology, and we need public figures like Chris to spread the cause."

Mooney is the author of three critically acclaimed books, including the New York Times best-selling The Republican War on Science - called "a landmark in contemporary political reporting" by Salon.com and a "well-researched, closely argued and amply referenced indictment of the right wing's assault on science and scientists" by Scientific American. He also wrote Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming, described as "riveting" by the Boston Globe.

His latest book, Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens Our Future, was co-authored with Sheril Kirshenbaum. Together, they write The Intersection blog for Discover Magazine. The Intersection was a recipient of Scientific American's 2005 Science and Technology web award, which noted that "science is lucky to have such a staunch ally in acclaimed journalist Chris Mooney."

Mooney, 32, was born in Mesa, Ariz., and grew up in New Orleans, La. He graduated from Yale University in 1999, where he wrote a column for the Yale Daily News. Before becoming a freelance writer, Chris worked for two years at The American Prospect as a writing fellow, then staff writer and then online editor (where he helped to create the popular blog Tapped).

Mooney has contributed to many publications over the years, including Wired, Science, Harper's, Seed, New Scientist, Slate, Salon, Mother Jones, The American Scholar, The New Republic, The Washington Monthly, Columbia Journalism Review, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe.

Admission to the lecture is free.