It’s UNdertheC’s second birthday!!  Two years ago, we made our Internet debut with this post about open-access publishing, and it’s been quite the adventure in science communication ever since!  We’d like to thank our loyal readers, from our grandparents to UNC folks to strangers who found us through Google.  With over 22,500 unique visitors to this site, we’ve reached more people than we ever dared to hope, and we’re so grateful for all your support!

Please send all marine-themed birthday cakes to UNdertheC headquarters. Image from http://pastrypalacelv.com/609-blue-whale-birthday/

While we have the spotlight, we’d like to introduce some new writers you’ll be seeing on the blog from now on.  Shelby Ziegler, Evan Amber, Rob Lampe, and Molly Bost are first- and second-year graduate students who will be sharing their wit and wisdom on all things oceanic.  Check out About Us to learn more about their research interests and what they do with their weekly 20 minutes of free time.  The topics of their first posts range from composting to deep-sea mining to whale snot, so we think they’ll fit right in here!

As you munch your birthday cake, feel free to get nostalgic with us by rereading our top 5 posts.  Our most-read article by a landslide is Serena Hackerott’s The Lionfish Ciguatera Controversy.  Following that, with over 1000 hits each:

• What Would Happen if the Ocean “Died?” by Justin Baumann
• ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (Grad Student Edition) by Kelsey Ellis
• The Sci-Poetry of Sleeping Dinoflagellates by Kelsey Ellis
• How to Read a Scientific Paper- If You’re Not a Scientist by Megan Schutt

Thanks again for a great 2 years!  Let us know if there’s a specific topic you’d like to see covered in the future!