ScienceOnline09
clock | March 5, 2009
I know you have all been trembling in anticipation! But the day has finally arrived - the third science blogging anthology, The Open Lab 2008, is now up for sale!
This year's guest editor, Jennifer Rohn, did a fantastic job of putting together the best anthology ever! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Jennifer is a pro, so she assembled a team:
Richard Grant was the assistant editor (yes, the posts were really, professionally edited this year, and thus much improved in the process).
Maria Brumm did the technical part, the typesetting, starting out with the template designed last year by…
clock | February 1, 2009Podcast of this morning's radio show is now up - you can listen to it here.
We covered ScienceOnline09, including its history, several individual sessions and underlying themes, the changes in science communication and journalism and more. A brief plug for PLoS at the beginning. Answered a couple of e-mailed questions, including one from Greg Laden (who almost stumped me - had to think quickly on my feet!).
Thanks to Stephanie and Mike for inviting me on.
clock | January 31, 2009
The very first blog carnival was conceived right here, in Chapel Hill, some four-five years ago or so. Since then, the idea took off and there are now thousands of blog carnivals, some generalist, some regional, but most are topical with topics ranging from food to sports to politics. But, probably due to the funny name, new bloggers and observers are often baffled at the concept. I thought it would be a good idea to have a session that explains the concept of the carnival, specifically how the carnivals related to science, nature and medicine are somewhat different from other kinds of…
clock | January 29, 2009By Colleen M. Smith: NEWS: ScienceOnline'09 explores the evolution of science on the web:
Research Triangle Park, NC, Jan. 16--The third annual science communication conference, ScienceOnline'09, took place at the Sigma Xi Center last weekend. The event was open to all scientists, bloggers, educators, students, journalists, and others interested in exploring science and ways to communicate it on the web....
clock | January 28, 2009
ScienceOnline'09, the third annual science communication conference (successor to the 2007 and 2008 North Carolina Science Blogging Conferences), was another unqualified success wifi issues notwithstanding. Around 215 scientists, educators, students, journalists and bloggers gathered for three days of activities, meals, sessions and hallway conversations to explore ways to use online tools to promote the public understanding of, and engagement in, science.
Find a comprehensive listing of links to the many blog entries and video clips posted before, during and after the conference to learn…
clock | January 28, 2009Science is moving onto the internet. Collection of data, collaboration between researchers, communication and critique of results, teaching and learning--all are increasingly being done online. ScienceOnline, held January 16 - 18 in 2009, is a conference dedicated to discussing the intersection of science and online technologies. Bora Zivkovic, one of the founders and organizers of ScienceOnline will join Atheists Talk Sunday, February 1, to talk about the purpose of the conference, the results of this year's sessions, and why it's important to meet your online colleagues in person.
Produced…
clock | January 27, 2009
About a month ago we had a spirited debate on Twitter if ScienceOnline09 is an Unconference or not. I think the problem stems from two distinct meanings of the term.
See what Wikipedia, the Unconference Blog and this article say about the concept.
On one hand, people in the tech industry who like to attend various BarCamps and FooCamps (like SciFoo) really like the idea that the program is set entirely by participants ahead of the coference, either on a wiki, or on a big white poster board on the morning of the conference, and thus take it that this is the defining aspect of an Unconference…
clock | January 26, 2009
You know that I have been very intrigued by the way the Web is changing the way we use language, especially in science communication, and have inserted my thoughts on that into many a post over the past couple of years. I have also been in a more-or-less continuous communication with Christian Casper over the past several months, for various reasons (including one really fun one - the Millionth Comment party at the Zoo). So, over those months, we came up with the idea for him to do a session, a little more academic in tone than what most other sessions were going to be, on Rhetoric of…
clock | January 24, 2009
Moving on with the morning, once again, I had to make a tough choice. OK, in this case, it wasn't that tough, really, as this was the session I was looking forward to all along: Science online - middle/high school perspective (or: 'how the Facebook generation does it'?) , led by Stacy Baker and her students.
But this session has a long history....
We had a session on using blogs in science education at the 1st science blogging conference and it was quite an eye-opener. It was led by Adnaan Wasey and Lea Winerman (from the The Online PBS NewsHour at the time). Takehome message #1: a lot of…
clock | January 24, 2009
Like everyone else, I had tough choices to make - which session to go to out of four in each time slot! Of course, I spent a year planning, and talking with moderators/panelists/presenters and building each session over time. Now I wanted to see them all. How could I afford to miss any one of them?!
But choices had to be made, and I knew I could rely on the blogosphere to write about other sessions so I could get the idea of how the other stuff went. The blog/media coverage linkfest is growing fast (perhaps start at the bottom and work your way up, posting comments on the way and saying…
clock | January 23, 2009
After the Museum tour and dropping by Radisson briefly to see who else has arrived in the meantime, I went home to see the family and walk the reconvalesecent dog for a few minutes (thus choosing to miss Friday Fermentable except for the last few minutes), then back to Sigma Xi for the WiSE networking event.
The place was packed (my estimate - 300 people) with women in science and engineering from local universities (Duke, NCSU, UNC, NCCU and others) as well as many participants of ScienceOnline09. This was an opportunity for local women in science not just to meet and network with each…
clock | January 22, 2009
After coffee cupping, still pretty frozen, we went back to Radisson to see who else has arrived for ScienceOnline09 in the meantime. I set up my temporary field Headquarters in the lobby (photo by Lenore):
After a quick lunch, it was time for Lab Tours (check blog posts and pictures for other people's experiences). A bunch of us went to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences where Roy Campbell, the Director of Exhibits, gave us a fantastic whirlwind tour through the Museum and the vaults, the secret basement chambers that general public cannot access.
I've been going to the Museum for 17…
clock | January 22, 2009
Friday morning was really, really cold (for North Carolina), so what better way to start off ScienceOnline09 than at Counter Culture Coffee where about 25 or so participants (and several other people - this is an open event) showed up bright and early to learn about the science (and business) of coffee.
Coffee is one of those things that you just drink, unthinkingly, at the time of the morning when it is hard to think anyway. So this was quite an eye-opener - learning what happens between the moment the coffee plant is planted and the moment when you taste the coffee. And there are many…
clock | January 21, 2009 I am still trying to recover from the previous week. It was quite busy for me, as you may have guessed. But I can start slowly posting my own hazy recollections and pictures now, I think, starting with the first day, Thursday. After meeting with Anton at Sigma Xi to unload the swag, I went over to Radisson hotel to see who was already there and found Blake, Pal, Bob, Grrrl and gg in the bar:
A couple of hours later we got in the car and went to the Early Bird Dinner to Town Hall Grill - another tradition at our conferences (we ate there both in 2007 and 2008 as well). I was very happy to be…
clock | January 19, 2009
Today, most of the ScienceOnline09 participants are either traveling home or trying to recover. While many managed to blog or liveblog during the conference, as well as discuss the conference on FriendFeed or Twitter and post pictures on Flickr, others have a different mode: taking some time to digest and then write thoughtful summaries later, once they are rested. First of those summaries are starting to show up online and I will keep updating you as others come in:
Highly Allochthonous: ScienceOnline Day 2: generalised ramblings
The Intersection: Echinoderms Emerge Victorious!
White Coat…
clock | January 18, 2009ScienceOnline09 is over, people are going home, and the online coverage so far appears to be very positive. I hope that conversations started at the conference continue, online and offline.
In the meantime, if you have participated either in RealLife or virtually, and while the memories are still fresh in your mind, please take a minute and fill in the feedback form, to help us make the next year's conference even better. Thank you!
clock | January 18, 2009
And here is what bloggers wrote so far today:
The Logical Operator: Not-so-live blogging Science Online '09
The Logical Operator: Science Fiction on Science Blogs - Science Online '09, Day 1
The End Of The Pier Show: Lines Written At 1.20 am ET Sunday 18 January
The End Of The Pier Show: Prevarication, 7.30 am ET, Sunday 18 January
Highly Allochthonous: ScienceOnline Day 1: generalised ramblings
Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted): Nature Blogging 101
White Coat Underground: Carolina dreamin'
Makroskop, laboratorium przyszÅoÅci: Science Online '09
The Flying Trilobite:…
clock | January 17, 2009Too tired (and it's too late) to write anything myself....but others have done it:
Sciencewomen: Overwhelmed at ScienceOnline 2009
Sciencewomen: Open Access publishing at ScienceOnline 2009
Sciencewomen: Alice's gender and science session: How can we be allies?
Sciencewomen: ScienceOnline09: The day wends on
Highly Allochthonous: Liveblogging from ScienceOnline...
Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted): What Happened to Tangled Bank?
Adventures in Ethics and Science: ScienceOnline'09: Managing your online persona through transitions.
Culture Dish: Documents for my ScienceOnline…
clock | January 16, 2009
ScienceOnline09 is in full swing. I don't have much time and opportunity to go online, as you may have noticed - so many old friends to hug! Already a full day behind us - a lovely dinner at Town Hall Grill last night, Coffee Cupping this morning, Lab Tours in the afternoon (I went to the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences), then a quick run home to see Mrs.Coturnix and walk the dog, then back to Sigma Xi, the Friday Fermentable, the Women's Networking Event and the amazing talk by Rebecca Skloot. An hour at the bar listening to ocean-bloggers singing shanties, then, exhausted, time…
clock | January 14, 2009
The interest in the conference was overwhelming this year. When we opened the registration back in September we did not expect that we would have to close it in less than three weeks, already over our maximal number of 200. As a result, our waitlist got bigger and bigger and, occasionally, as someone would cancel, we could invite someone from the waitlist to register.
About a dozen people held off until the end, hoping they would still be able to make it, but had to cancel over the last week or two. In their place, we invited several people from the waitlist (and yes, we are still over…