DSN Adds To Its Ranks

With great pleasure I am pleased to announce that Rick Macpherson, of Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice & Sunsets notoriety, is joining Deep-Sea News as a contributor.  Why add Rick? Because he is very large jar of awesome sauce.  He has worked since 1986 in field-based marine conservation biology and ocean science education.  That experience led him to his current as Director of Conservation Programs for the Coral Reef Alliance.  I attribute CORAL’s continued success on the ground of working with local people to protect marine systems in part to Rick’s creatively and leadership. During his tenure at UC Berkeley his course, Communicating Ocean Sciences, was adopted by 20 other colleges and universities netting Rick the prestigious 2005 Educational Initiatives Award. His demonstrated commitment to ocean conservation and science communication will prove a valuable asset here at DSN.  Moreover, his quirky writing style will be a perfectly fit with our unconventional science persona.

I also hear he makes a tasty gin and tonic.

Our ranks now grow to five and you may ask yourself if DSN have joined blog network bandwagon.  We have not.  We are not looking to add new blogs to a DSN network.  We looking for active bloggers to join the DSN blog that will continue to capitalize on our success and expand our expertise. We are looking for scientist communicators not science communicators.  DSN will continue to be a group of active scientists providing expert commentary on new ocean science and policy. As Rick states, “the DSN team [is] a growing cohort of ocean science online writers [that] pioneer the potential for social media to build an increasingly informed, connected, and passionate citizenry.” And of course, we will continue to do this in our off-beat, salty, and a little off-color way. Will we add more bloggers? Only time will tell. Interested?