Biography
Ziya Tong is a television personality and producer based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is co-host of Discovery Channel's long-running primetime science magazine, Daily Planet (1996), Canada's daily science show, where she brings to the stage a wealth of knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm for science and the environment, and addresses issues such as the shifting nature of time and space, and our place within the universe.
Before co-hosting "Daily Planet", Ziya served as host and field producer for PBS' national primetime series, Wired Science (2007), produced in conjunction with Wired Magazine.
In Canada, she hosted the CBC's Emmy®-nominated series ZeD (2002), a pioneer of open source television, for which she received a Gemini Viewer's Choice Award nomination in 2005. Ziya also served as host, writer, and director for the Canadian science series "The Leading Edge" and joined the team at Nova ScienceNow (2005) as a new contributor in 2009.
In New York, Ziya served as a senior producer for Orientation.com (now defunct), a global internet news portal for developing countries partnered with the BBC and UNDP. In 2003, Ziya launched the Ethical Media Division for Cowie and Fox Creative, one of Vancouver's leading interactive agencies, to promote green branding for non-profit and environmental groups. A strong supporter of public broadcasting, Ziya also participates in "Media that Matters", a conference that promotes social change and media activism.
Ziya received her Masters Degree in communications from McGill University, where she graduated on the Dean's Honour List. Ziya also received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in psychology and sociology from the University of British Columbia.
With a passion for culture and world travel, Ziya is working to further develop her language skills speaking fluent English and Cantonese and working on her French, Mandarin and Arabic. Ziya has also travelled extensively to more than 50 countries and has hosted Island Escapes (2006), a travel show on CTV.
Ziya also serves on the Board of Directors of WWF (World Wildlife Fund).
