I’ve got my coffee, a delicious white chocolate biscotti from the cafe up the road, and all my emails from overnight have been checked. It is 7:30 am, technically a good half hour before my day starts, but I finally have a few moments to check through my bookmarked sites and see what my fellow science-nerds-writers out there are sharing.
There are some amazingly talented voices out there sharing stories and thoughts about marine science, research, non-profit organizations, and conservation efforts. Finding these sites can take either a lot of Googling or social media sharing—so to speed up that process, periodically we will share with you some of the interesting articles or sites the writers of 60N Science enjoy reading. To start off, here is a short list of some of my favorite sites I’ve been reading from lately…
HAKAI MAGAZINE
“Hakai Magazine explores science, society and the environment from a coastal perspective”.
I recently found this online magazine/blog and I love it. Great images, medium-length but engaging articles, and a wide perspective on marine topics.
Favorite Post: The Long, Knotty, World-Spanning Story of String. This one shares the history of string (yep, good old rope, string, and fiber) and how this often-overlooked ‘invention’ is more important than the wheel in the big scheme of human history as it allowed us to explore the seas. This article, and some others, is even available in audio format!!
bioGraphic
“bioGraphic is a new multimedia magazine powered by the California Academy of Sciences, featuring beautiful and surprising stories about nature and sustainability”.
That just about says it all. They have various ‘types’ of posts ranging from a picture with a short caption, to longer articles.
Favorite post: Sea Change. This post looks at how the Arctic Ocean is beginning to change and what this means for the food-web. Stunning photos and a real storytelling approach to the information make this a must-read!
SOUTHERN FRIED SCIENCE
This site is a true ‘blog’ that is written by practicing marine scientists at many career stages. “Through it all, we never lose sight of what inspires us: The ocean is a source of unceasing wonder and we want it to stay that way”.
Favorite post: Have you heard the good news about shark populations? This article has some great science information about shark populations, which would have been enough to make a top post, but it goes even further. So much of conservation research seems to be portents of doom—the bees are dying, the polar bears are dying, the ocean is full of plastic. So I always love when there are these moments of #OceanOptimism. Before reading this article I didn’t even know #OceanOptimism was a campaign started FOUR YEARS AGO! I hope to make #OceanOptimism something we strive to share here on 60N Science more often!
It’s Okay to be Smart:
I’ll let this video do the introduction for me…
Part YouTube channel, part blog—this site makes being curious about science fun! (blog version: https://www.itsokaytobesmart.com/ )
Favorite post: How Poop Shapes the World Because honestly how often do we get to think about the importance of poop in ecosystems?
I hope you enjoy some of these sites! Feel free to share any blogs or sites you enjoy following in the comments, and they may make it into the next version of this post!
Written by: Dr. Amy Bishop
One of my favorite science Vlogs (video blog) is from the You Tube channel Veritasium: https://www.youtube.com/user/1veritasium Check it out start here with my fav: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KZb2_vcNTg