BINGHAMTON, NY – Binghamton University will host Shankar Vedantam, a science correspondent for National Public Radio, who will deliver the keynote speech for this year’s Binghamton Research Days. His talk, titled "Elite Tribes: How Mentors, Competitors and Colleagues Shape the Search for Sustained Excellence," will begin at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17 in the Mandela Room of the University Union, on campus. This event is free and open to the public.

The focus of Vedantam’s reporting is on human behavior and the social sciences, and how research in those fields can get listeners to think about the news in unusual and interesting ways. His Binghamton talk will convey some of the excitement of research — and the larger societal implications of learning.

Before joining NPR in 2011, Vedantam spent 10 years as a reporter at The Washington Post. He is the author of “The Hidden Brain: How our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars and Save Our Lives.” The book, published in 2010, describes how unconscious biases influence people. He has also written fiction and plays and served as a lecturer at many academic institutions, including Harvard and Columbia.

Vedantam’s talk is the highlight of three days of activities, which include laboratory tours, student poster sessions, special recognition for undergraduate researchers and a variety of lectures and workshops. For the full schedule, visit http://www.research.binghamton.edu/events/researchdays.