| Ziya Tong | |
|---|---|
Ziya Tong (in DeepWorker) with Jeff Heaton (left), and Astronaut Dave Williams (right). |
|
| Born | 1980 London, England |
| Occupation | Television Personality and Producer |
Ziya Tong is a television personality and producer based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[1] She is of Chinese and Macedonian descent,[2][3] and was born in London, England and later lived in Hong Kong.[4]
Tong moved from Hong Kong to Canada when she was 11.[5]
Tong received her B.A. degree from the University of British Columbia in psychology and sociology.[6] At McGill University, she graduated with an M.S. in communications[7] and also majored in psychology.[8] Afterwards, she worked as a reporter, and as a Senior Producer for the news-portal Orientation Global Networks in New York.
Tong began hosting the CBC Television series ZeD in the 2004-05 season, succeeding Sharon Lewis. For this, she was nominated for a Gemini Award for Viewer's Choice for Lifestyle Host in 2005.[9]
After ZeD, Tong moved to CTV to host the new television series Island Escapes, which premiered on January 6, 2006. Critic Denise Duguay called her a "lively and game travel host".[1] In this position, she visited many exotic island locations, and highlighted the attractions of places such as New Caledonia, Bedarra Island and Fiji.
Starting in January, 2007 she worked as a host and producer for two science shows, Wired Science on PBS[2] and The Leading Edge, a Canadian science series on The Knowledge Network.[10]
Tong has also written for Wired magazine[11] and blogs on the Wired Science site for PBS.[12] She is currently shooting for the new season of NOVA on PBS.[13] After joining Discovery Channel's Daily Planet as a guest host for November and December 2008, she was named the new permanent co-host of the daily science program.[14]