GrrlScientist is an evolutionary biologist, ornithologist, aviculturist, birder and freelance science and nature writer. A native of the Pacific Northwest, she relocated from Seattle to NYC with her parrots after earning a BS in Microbiology (emphasis in Virology) and PhD in Zoology (Ornithology) from the University of Washington. In NYC, she was the Chapman Postdoctoral Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History for two years, pursuing part of her "dream" research project by reconstructing a molecular phylogeny of the parrots of the South Pacific islands. GrrlScientist has written a blog about science since 4 August 2004 (the early years are archived 
Horse Guards Parade building in London, April 2006.
Image: Gryffindor (Wikipedia).
I am a panelist at a one day conference being held in London, England. This conference focuses on the value of blogs to the public, to science and to scientists, and is being held at the Royal Institution of Great Britain on 30 August 2008. My fellow panelists are Jennifer Rohn, editor at LabLit.com and Anna Kushnir, who works for Nature Network Boston and writes the blog, Lab Life. The panel moderator is my friend and ScienceBlogs colleague who lives in London, Mo.
I need your help as I work on my contribution to this meeting, so I am asking you a series of questions I'd like you to respond to. The next questions in this series are; Are you a scientist who blogs about your occupation and/or actual work/experiments? Do your colleagues know this? If so, do your colleagues read your blog? If you are "anonymous", has anyone figured out your identity based on what you write about on your blog?
Education & Careers
Humanities & Social Science
Comments
Ooh, I can respond! (the previous questions seemed to be aimed at the general public. If I were to claim to be a member, i think I'd get voted off the island)
Yes. Err, see the afternoon session! Some do, and I have advertised blog posts to my peers, when it's something I think they will find interesting.I haven't had any negative reaction: some people are either amused or bemused by the whole thing.
Only the unfortunate ones. Some even comment on it. I'm only anonymous in email anyway, and I think people figure that one out pretty quickly.Posted by: Bob O'H | August 21, 2008 10:52 AM
Ok Ok Ok....illlll answer ;P
1) Yes. I usually blog about conversations or events that i think occur in most grad student lives. Just so we can all be in this together.
2)a. Yup. I have advertised my blog to those i know and work with...mostly to students tho.
2)b. i dont think most of them read it...my readership comes more from fellow bloggers. The few that have hopped on say that they enjoy laughing at me :P just like they do at work
3. Im pretty open...so this Q is N/A for me.
Posted by: Rhea Miller | August 21, 2008 1:19 PM
1) Sort of - I'm a field biologist at a wind farm, so my blogging rarely addresses "confidential" matters, though I tear the wind industry to pieces whenever possible.
2) Nope, it's more of a personal blog interspersed with rants about "alternative" energy. I suppose a few birders read, but none in the same field.
3) Eh, it's irrelevant, my first name is there but most of my readers (or at least those who comment) know me personally.
Posted by: heidi | August 22, 2008 7:39 PM