Unit 3: How We See the Disease

In this video, Melissa Ramirez, Ph.D. provides a preview of Unit 3: How We See the Disease in Wicked Problems, Wolfpack Solutions: Pandemics.

Not only do we affect animals, but our well-being is tied to theirs. The COVID-19 epidemic has made this point even more clear—we cannot separate ourselves from nature, instead we have to learn how to manage interactions to reduce the risk.

Dr. Cooper will review how citizen science is transforming scientific discovery, introduce students to NC State’s Citizen Science Campus program, walk students through an NC State citizen science project about safe drinking water, and show students 3 ways they can fight COVID-19.

As we all listen to the pandemic discussions, appreciate the limitations of available data and what data are still needed. As we hear about testing adequacy, remember that understanding how well or poorly accurate tests can perform, when testing for rare conditions, is important.

Dr. Gordon discusses a pair of films centered on tuberculosis: one from 1912 (Falling Leaves) and the other from 1914 (The Temple of Moloch).

Dr. Gordon discusses Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion (2011), which is about the emergence of a pandemic and the responses aimed at stopping its spread. She concludes with a brief discussion of Plandemic, a short conspiracy theory video.