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 and her five parrots are currently relocating to Germany, where she will continue writing her blog while also writing a book and learning German. (Meanwhile, her parrots will continue to nibble on her extensive personal library.) If you appreciate GrrlScientist's writing, you can help pay her living expenses by hiring her to "blog" your conference, speak at your club or write articles for your publication (or by clicking on the Paypal button below). If you read an essay on this blog that you especially enjoyed, please nominate it for inclusion in 
tags: SEM, ASPEX Corp, DonorsChoose, science education, teaching, fund-raising, poverty
Would you like a FREE, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image of an object that you've always wanted to see really close up? Stephanie at ASPEX Corporation has offered a free benchtop SEM scan as a prize to one lucky person who donates to my DonorsChoose Challenge! If you win, you could send them anything to scan (as long as it fits into an envelope); lunch room mystery meat, a fingernail clipping, or even a dead insect .. anything you'd like to see a picture of under a powerful microscope. Here's an image gallery of objects they've already scanned, and you are free to choose your own object to add to the collection!
How do you win this glorious prize?
For every $20 that you donate to my DonorsChoose Challenge, I will give you one chance to win. For example, a $20 donation "buys" you one chance to win while $100 "buys" you five chances to win.
How will this winner be determined? My parrots will "chews" the winner either by directly picking the ballot out of a hat, or if they are being obstinate, I'll let them poop on a large piece of paper with a grid drawn on it, with one square representing one "ballot." (Of course, I am open to your suggestions for other ways that my parrots can "chews" the winner if you have a better idea).
Education
Humanities & Social Science
