EVENT: Neilly Series lecture on how people interpret risks by David Ropeik of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis

David Ropeik, a writer who specializes in studying how people interpret risks, will speak at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, in the Welles-Brown Room of Rush Rhees Library on the University of Rochester's River Campus. His talk on "Risk Perception: Why Our Fears Don't Match the Facts" is part of the yearlong Neilly Series, and is free and open to the public.

Ropeik believes humans subconsciously "decide," based more on emotional than factual information, either being too afraid of a lesser risk or not afraid enough of the bigger ones. To respond to these emotions, Ropeik wrote (with co-author George Gray) Risk: A Practical Guide for Deciding What's Really Safe and What's Really Dangerous in the World Around You (Houghton Mifflin, 2002). The book is based on the scientific understanding of a wide range of issues and does not advocate for any group.

A television journalist for more than 20 years, Ropeik is director of risk communication at the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, a center that provide information for informed public discussion on health, safety, and environmental issues. He has written extensively on risk perception and risk communication, and has lectured at the White House and to numerous government, corporate, and consumer groups worldwide.

Neilly Series events are supported by a major gift from University alumnus Andrew H. Neilly and his wife, Janet Dayton Neilly. It is produced by the River Campus Libraries of the University of Rochester. For more information, contact (585) 275-4461.

Note to editors: A JPEG image of David Ropeik can be e-mailed to you. Please call (585) 275-4128 or send your request to sdickman@rochester.edu.