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Discovering Biology in a Digital World
Categories: Biology, Academia

Sandra Porter earned a BS in Microbiology from the University of Minnesota, and an MSc and PhD in microbiology from the University of Washington. She did a postdoc at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and spent a decade leading the biotechnology program at Seattle Central Community College. Now she engages in "semi-random acts of teaching" while also working for a bioinformatics company called Geospiza. She writes about how bioinformatics can be used as an educational tool, and what and how we can learn from it.

Dispatches from the Culture Wars
Categories: Culture Wars, Policy & Politics

A stand-up comedian turned businessman and writer, Ed Brayton lives in central Michican, in a town so small that the library contains only farming manuals and a biography of Dale Earnhardt. The co-founder of The Panda's Thumb and Michigan Citizens for Science, Brayton has been active in the evolution/creationism debate for most of his life. He started Dispatches from the Culture Wars in 2003, as a place to blog about the multiple interactions of science, religion, law, and culture.

Dr. Joan Bushwell's Chimpanzee Refuge
Categories: Biology

Dr. Joan Bushwell's Chimpanzee Refuge takes its name from the Jane Goodall-like scientist portrayed in season 12, episode 265 of the venerable show, The Simpsons. The blog is headed up by the Doc herself, whose particular doctorate in pharmaceutical biochemistry was minted by the University of Wisconsin at Madison in the '80s. She lives and works now in the pharmaceutical industry in New Jersey, and she is joined in the Refuge by two co-bloggers: Kevin Beck and Jim. Topics of interest for the group include biochemistry, drug discovery, molecular evolution, neurobiology, and the natural sciences, especially botany.

Dynamics of Cats
Categories: Physical Sciences, Academia

Born and raised in Iceland, Steinn Sigurdsson is now a tenured Associate Professor in the Astronomy department of Pennsylvania State University. He reached University Park, PA, by way of the University of Sussex, where he did a BSc in mathematical physics, and Caltech, where he earned a PhD in theoretical astrophysics. On the blog, Steinn offers speculations on astronomy, astropysics, theoretical issues, science policy, and science news. Particular interests include gravitational radiation sources, black holes, planets and astrobiology. His writing style on the blog has been described as cryptically tongue in cheek. As he has cats and two small children, Steinn has suspended all other outside interests and hobbies for the present.

Effect Measure
Categories: Medicine, Policy & Politics

Effect Measure is a forum for progressive public health discussion and argument as well as a source of public health information from around the web. In epidemiology, an effect is the endpoint of a causal mechanism. The editors of Effect Measure are senior public health scientists and practitioners. Their names would be immediately recognizable to many in the public health community. They prefer to keep their online and public lives separate to allow maximum freedom of expression. Paul Revere was a member of the first local Board of Health in the United States (Boston, 1799). The editors sign their posts "Revere" to recognize the public service of a professional forerunner better known for other things.