All about bees…now with pictures!

A possibly nectar-robbing Xylocopa californica. Photo found on wikicommons, created by user Pompilid (Mike).

In class a few weeks back, Ryder shared his piece on the bee Xylocopa californica. At that point it was still a work in progress, but after several weeks of hard work, the finished product is ready for your consumption.

If you’re interested in hearing Ryder’s full piece on Xylocopa californica, complete with awesome photos of scientists, bees, and plants, then head on over to his site. Enjoy five minutes of distilled sciency goodness.

Getting into the swing of things

There’s a reason there was such a large emphasis on web tools this quarter: using web communication tools, like blog and micro-blog platforms, provides the possibility of immediate connection. There are no editors to go through or submission guidelines. It is just you and the audience. However, learning how to navigate those web communication tools and use them to their maximum potential is not easy.

The blogs presented in class were fantastic, and I was left thinking about different links or hints I could provide here for people excited about exploring blogging further. I could not think of anything. Most resources are site or problem specific (side note: the wordpress guide to wordpress is located in the blog roll). There is no one how-to manual that I could point to as the Rosetta Stone of web tools.

Fortunately, there is another way to master the skills needed to effectively use these tools – hours of trial and error. Speaking from experience, there will be many trials and oh so many errors. After this quarter, I’m betting you can relate.

For those of you who have discovered an interest in this form of communication, pursue it! It will not necessarily start out feeling easy and that is OK.  I remember struggling with embedding youtube clips in blog posts when I first started. I’ll be honest – it was a struggle that almost ended with my computer in two pieces. As you keep going with your blogging, you will find that it becomes easier. Learning how to utilize technology to communicate effectively is a process that never fully stops. The only thing you can do is jump in feet first and enjoy the ride.

Ryder’s Hints and Notes

Two weeks ago, Ryder and Aubrey came to speak about their experiences writing, planning, and creating radio pieces. The conversation was a good one, so if you missed it or if you just want to relive the magic, be sure to check out the podcast and/or video on the SmartSite.

For those of you who want to explore the possibilities of radio, Ryder passed along these links to get you started:

Good (and varied) radio stories:

RadioLab, www.radiolab.org/
The Moth, www.prx.org/themoth
This American Life, www.thisamericanlife.org/

Web resources (descriptions by Ryder):

www.transom.org
This website has information on equipment, production, editing, storytelling and more.

www.howsound.org
What the pros do to make great radio and tell wonderful stories.

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Wiki Presentations

Today, the different wikipedia groups presented their wikipedia feature articles. Each group took the assignment in a different and interesting direction. To check out the awesome work first hand, click through.

MicroFUN – microlensing Follow-Up Network

What’s cool? The people in this group connected with people in the microFUN network and involved them in the process.

Mega-telomeres

What’s cool? This group really embraced appealing to both a general audience and an expert audience. They included photographs and a good mixture of technical information and background.

Agricultural pollution

What’s cool? This group really embraced hyperlinking, a key feature of wikipedia. They included many hyperlinks in their articles to other articles on wikipedia, and they went to other wikipedia pages and linked them to their article.

Food choice

What’s cool? The group created a graphic for their article that distills key information into a quick,easy to read visual.

Introducing Aubrey

To keep things a bit more organized (hopefully more organized), I split the information for class on Monday into two posts. The first one provided links to stories suggested by Ryder, a graduate student and science communicator. This post will introduce our second guest, Aubrey White.

Aubrey has a lot of experience with communicating science, and has worked in a variety of formats, including blogs, documentaries, and radio. Definitely check out her blog, and the radio segments provided by her below:

“Brainhilda and I” -A great audio documentary by produce David Golann describes a woman’s neurological disorder in her own words.   The piece is a solid example of when audio is the best format to use in communication. (under 6 minutes)

“From the Ground Up: The New Suburbs”
This is episode four of a six-part series I produced while living and working on a start up organic farm.  One part family documentary, one part sustainable ag education.  (8 mins)

The actual segments can be found on the SmartSite. Give them a listen before class on Monday and start to think about science communication outside the blog.

Introducing Ryder

We will have two visitors in class on Monday, Aubrey White and Ryder Diaz. Links to their blogs should be available in the blogroll. Give them a click and check out what their work looks like.

Ryder shared with me some more links and information and I’m passing that along to you. In class, we’ll get a chance to hear one of Ryder’s still-in-production radio pieces about bees. You can find it on the SmartSite under “xylocopa.”

Here’s how Ryder describes it:

Bug Bytes: Insect Natural History Stories. This story highlights the nest building prowess of carpenter bees. (approx. 6 minutes) Note: Sneak peak: this piece is not the final copy (still in production, so please don’t distribute outside of the class).

He also provided some links for y’all to check out:

www.education.eol.org/podcast/ – A series called One Species at a Time contains many podcasts about a variety of organisms. This is a good place to start for scientists who want to start podcasting about their own research. Listen to how science is presented in these short podcasts. (most are around 5
minutes, give a listen to one!)

www.radiolab.org/2011/oct/04/break-cycle/ – A Radiolab segment which tries to explain mathematical theories using more familiar things.

Get stoked for an exciting discussion on Monday!

Some Collaborative Tools for Science

A few weeks ago, we were lucky enough to have Carl Boettiger come in and talk about academic blogging and collaboration. He created this list of resources for collaboration and talks about some of the risks and rewards associated with sharing research online. Follow the link to his blog and enjoy.

Welcome to this blog.

Hi everyone, this is a blog that will contain some links, videos, and other multimedia. Since we have spent so much time talking about blogging in class, it felt awkward to not have an actual blog to showcase some of that discussion.

For those of you who just stumbled across this blog, this is a blog for the Translating Research Beyond Academia seminar series at the University of California, Davis. We are all about breaking cool, relevant science outside of the ivory tower.

So hello!