Top 5 Things I Learned at The Benthic Ecology Meeting 2014
Conference Rundowns / Science / Science and Communication / Travel

Top 5 Things I Learned at The Benthic Ecology Meeting 2014

This past weekend I traveled to the 43rd Annual Benthic Ecology Meeting in Jacksonville, Florida. This years event was hosted by the University of North Florida. If you haven’t heard of them before, check them out. They have a nice new biological sciences building and they are doing some cool research! This was my first … Continue reading

Up All Night to Talk Climate: Senators stay #up4climate
Energy, News, and Climate / Policy / Science

Up All Night to Talk Climate: Senators stay #up4climate

On Monday night a group of U.S. Senators took to the chamber floor to give short speeches about climate change. The event, dubbed #up4climate, lasted all night. Who was in attendance? 30 Democratic senators and 2 Independent senators showed up to participate. Of the 45 Republican senators, a total of zero joined this movement. However, … Continue reading

#SciREN– Marine Scientists and Educators of North Carolina Join Forces
Policy / Science / Science and Communication / Travel

#SciREN– Marine Scientists and Educators of North Carolina Join Forces

If you follow us on Twitter, you have probably seen lots of content about #SciREN. If you weren’t at the workshop, let me tell you how it works. Marine scientists from North Carolina submitted lesson plans to the workshop and then met up at North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores (a great venue, by … Continue reading

Paradigm Shifts in academic publishing: Is how we write a problem?
Science / Science and Communication

Paradigm Shifts in academic publishing: Is how we write a problem?

Recently I have been exploring the topic of science writing and communication, through a class on science comm, this blog, and through reading tons of papers (because you know, grad student). Throughout my adventures I have discovered something very interesting. Often I will read a paper inside of my own field, tangentially related to my … Continue reading

Photography Friday: Reef Degradation
Marine Preservation / Podcasts and Videos / Policy / Science

Photography Friday: Reef Degradation

An article posted late last night on the NYT website reports that the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, an independent Australian government agency whose purpose is to protect the Great Barrier Reef, has approved the dumping of 3 million cubic tons of sediment and dredging mud within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (a UNESCO … Continue reading

Shark cull in Western Australia: When policy laughs in the face of logic
Energy, News, and Climate / Policy / Science

Shark cull in Western Australia: When policy laughs in the face of logic

By now I’m sure you’ve heard that the government of Western Australia has decided to pursue a shark cull. The government supported program allows for the killing of sharks in Western Australian waters, including threatened Great Whites. There have been reports of people shooting sharks, but most of the culling will be done be baiting … Continue reading

Megafauna madness: killing dolphins, mistreating orcas, critically endangered sharks.
Energy, News, and Climate / Marine Life / Policy / Science

Megafauna madness: killing dolphins, mistreating orcas, critically endangered sharks.

Twitter and world media have been abuzz this week about the Taiji Cove dolphin drive. A practice in a small Japanese town that leads to the death or capture of hundreds of dolphins each year. You may have heard of this before if you are a fan of documentaries. “The Cove” is a documentary by … Continue reading

“Thanks for all the fish”–the secret life of the world’s “second smartest” creature
Marine Life / Science

“Thanks for all the fish”–the secret life of the world’s “second smartest” creature

Second smartest only to our trans-dimensional mouse overlords, that is. If you don’t know what I am talking about please catch up on your classic sci-fi literature here. It has long been a popular opinion that dolphins are some of the smartest creatures on the planet. They have brains larger than those of humans, they … Continue reading