Craig is temporarily a post-doctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute who is looking for a permanent position. He spends most of his time balancing his overwhelming geekdom with normalcy so he can function in the real world. Luckily his wife likes his geekiness.
Peter Etnoyer is a Graduate Research Associate at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi. He studies deep corals and ocean fronts, and he loves to be on the water.
Kevin Zelnio is a Graduate Student Researcher at Penn State studying the ecology of hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities. He raises awareness of the plight of the spineless through folk music.
Cortunix tagged me with a meme. To digress I am not a fan of the word meme or blog. Both make me sound like an internet geek which I am but don't want to necessarily convey to others. Why do I blog?
- Communication is essential to science. Most scientists interpret this as communication with other scientists, thus meetings, workshops, and the currency of science...publications. I interpret this to mean, and on equal footing with the later, communication of science to the public. As each day advances, the deep sea becomes less remote. Our knowledge moves ahead so quickly and I think its vital to convey that has it happens. My first post here ended with the statement "So as our knowledge and questions mature, you can view it here. This is a blog, a journal, a dialogue on the deep sea."
- Ultimately this dialogue forces me to stay up to date on everything deep-sea related. The outcome of this has been two fold. It strengthens my research program and provides fodder for new avenues of research.
- The appears to be a lot of misinformation about both science and the deep sea. I hope we provide readers a reliable source of information.
- To quote my wife...If they know the deep sea, they will love it. If they love deep sea, they will conserve it.
- Reader's interest and comments here also provide a reality check when I lose passion or I ask myself "Who cares?"
- There is also a 'twinge', as with Cortunix, of big ego and lots of feeling of self-importance.
Now maybe Peter and Kevin will answer the question as well.
Comments
For me, it is to convey the vast diversity of life in the deep sea to the public. I really enjoy what I do and feel privileged to see the sights I have seen in my tenure as a marine biologist. A lot of the information we, as scientists, have is not known to the general public, (of which fund our research through their taxes). Nor will it ever be! So much of science is locked away in journals that most of the public either cannot access or don't understand the basic vocabulary that scientists use.
I hate the word blog, its an ugly word. I feel what DSN does is report the latest happenings in the science of the deep, whether it is reporting on the latest research developments, highlighting the fantastic and unusual fauna, debunking myths or unfounded claims or relaying information about current events (such as research expeditions).
Also, people that know me know I can't shut up and fervently engage in the ancient art of speculation.
Posted by: kevin | April 5, 2007 12:23 PM
I blog because it's therapeutic - my hands cramp up if I don't write more than 7 pages a day.
Posted by: Peter Etnoyer | April 5, 2007 2:15 PM
Peter,
I think you are doing like me, avoiding writing your dissertation!
Posted by: Kevin Zelnio | April 5, 2007 2:16 PM
Exactly. Maybe I blog because no one checks references?
Posted by: Peter Etnoyer | April 5, 2007 2:21 PM
I have added your post to the blog tag tree that I created for tracking the "Why I blog" meme. This makes it easy to know who has been tagged already, and to easily find everyone's post.
Blog Meme Tracker: Why I Blog
Enjoy!
Posted by: Michael Jensen | April 6, 2007 6:09 AM
well, whatever you do, keep blogging, I love this blog!
Posted by: eve | April 10, 2007 12:17 PM
well, whatever you do, keep blogging, I love this blog!
Posted by: smt | May 27, 2007 8:48 PM