On November 9, 2010, Ira Flatow received the Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest at an award ceremony at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The Nierenberg Prize for Science in the Public Interest was created to honor the memory of William A. Nierenberg, who was Director of UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography for 21 years. A bronze medal and a $25,000 prize are awarded each year for outstanding contributions to science in the public interest. The award was created and is supported by gifts from the Nierenberg family.

While in California accepting the award, he spoke to the San Diego Union Tribune about why science is sexy. He explained:

Science didn’t used to be sexy. Science used to be a wrinkled old guy with a bad hair day like (in) Albert Einstein’s photo. Then you had Carl Sagan with ‘Cosmos,’ which made science sexy. But you went through a period where scientists were trying to convince media people to put scientific content in their scripts. (Physicist) Leon Lederman used to go out to see Hollywood producers and say, “If you’re going to do a show on television can’t you at least put it in a laboratory?”

Read the entire Q&A with Ira Flatow at Sign On San Diego