The First Post Redux

If all goes according to plan, this post should appear right about the time that this blog "goes live." (And if all doesn't go to plan, the delete feature works just fine, so no worries there.) That being the case, this is probably going to be the first post that my readers see, so I'd like to take a minute to welcome both of you to the new homestead.

If you've followed me over from the old place, thanks, and you're probably not going to find a lot in this particular post that's all that new. I've been posting here invisibly for the last few days, so there are some other posts up that you can take a look at. On the other hand, if you're a new reader and want to know a little more about who I am and what to expect, then...

A little on me:
My name is Mike, and I'm a blogger. I'm also a graduate student in zoology, studying the genetics involved in the formation of new species. I'm the father of two elementary school-aged children, who (like most kids) manage to alternate being completely charming and completely obnoxious, without spending much time in between. I'm married to a medical doctor who is on active duty with the US Army, and about to deploy to Iraq. In other words, I'm a perfectly ordinary, average Joe kind of guy.

I live and work in Hawaii, and I'm studying the evolution of a group of organisms that are unique to the Hawaiian Islands. The family and I have been here for almost exactly five years now, and we've completely fallen in love with the place. That's due, in more or less equal parts, to the people out here, the climate, and the ecology. (For an evolutionary biologist, Hawaii is definitely paradise. More on that in a day or two.)

A little on what to expect:
This is scienceblogs.com, so I'm guessing that you probably expect some blogging about science. You'll definitely see some of that here, mostly focusing on evolutionary biology, and particularly on the formation of new species. I'm also very interested in the role of science in informing and influencing public policy. That wasn't a major focus at the old blog, but I'm going to be trying to pay more attention to it here. It's also a topic that I'm really just beginning to study in depth, so trying to talk about it is going to be a learning experience for me. I've been involved in the creation/evolution issue for quite a while now, and contribute to the Panda's Thumb blog. That will continue to be a topic here, as will more general "culture war" type issues - particularly those related to church-state separation. Finally, my family ties to the military mean that I'm very interested in issues that impact the military and military families, so that will probably come up occasionally, too.

A few old posts:
If you want to take a look at some of the things I've written in the past, here are a few of my favorite posts from the old blog:

I've written a series of posts over the past several months about the impact that an invasive species of wasp is having on some trees that are unique to Hawaii. (Post 1, post 2, post 3, post 4. This is an ongoing story, so there may be more on this at a later date.)

The first of the posts in that last series was also the first post in a series on the applications of evolution. I haven't put as much into that series as I'd originally planned, but I'm going to try to resurrect it here. (Click the links for post 2, post 3, and post 4 for the rest of the series to date.

I've also written a few posts about the group of flies that I'm working with. (Post 1, post 2, post 3, post 4, and post 5.)

Those are my favorite science-oriented posts. I'm not going to subject you to a greatest hits list for my more politically-oriented stuff. If you're interested in getting a feel for my views on those topics, feel free to browse through the old blog and take a look. Or just check back here every now and then, and get the material fresh, instead.