We are looking for new blog team members for the new ‘EGU year’ (June 2022 – June 2023)! By being part of the blog team, you will have the opportunity to meet lots of people from the geodynamics community and beyond and boost your own profile. This year, we are looking for many different kinds of contributions, so have a look below and see if anything sparks your interest!
Interested? Send an e-mail to: iris.vanzelst@dlr.de.
NOTE: You don’t have to be a geodynamicist to become involved! We are looking to fill many different types of roles; not all of them have a focus on geodynamics. If you like (Earth) science, you are pretty much good to go!
ALSO NOTE: Just in case there is any confusion: these are all voluntary roles. So no payment. Nothing. Rien. Nada. But you get something better. EXPOSURE. *cries in corner of her new office*
WANTED: Regular blog editors
Regular blog editors are responsible for the weekly Wednesday blog posts on geodynamics, research, life in academia, etc. Depending on the amount of regular editors, you will be responsible for a blog post every 4-8 weeks. These posts can be either written by the editor themselves or commissioned: you invite a guest author and then edit their blog post. Hence, this is a perfect role if you want to meet and interact with people in geodynamics: you finally have an excuse to write to that one professor you have always wanted to talk to and now they will probably remember your name as well! There is a comprehensive schedule so that the whole team stays on track. I will help you settle in as an editor and I can help you meet your deadlines. Since everyone is busy, there is a lot of flexibility in the schedule and everyone on the team helps each other out in case of unexpected busy-ness!
WANTED: Sassy Scientist Columnists
The Sassy Scientist is an anonymous columnist who writes the weekly ‘Ask the Sassy Scientist’ column on Friday where they answer a question about geodynamics, research etc. as sassily (is that a word?) as possible. Being a sassy scientist columnist is incredibly fun and creative: you can say anything you want and share your uncensored opinion with the world in a post dripping with sarcasm. If you want to be the next Sassy Scientist, you will be sworn to secrecy for life! So you cannot use this as a CV booster. Depending on the number of columnists, you will be responsible for a blog post every 2-4 weeks. In consultation with me and the other sassies, we will figure out a schedule that works for you, and make sure you can channel your inner sassy scientist. So, get your creative juices flowing and join our team of sassies!
WANTED: Editor-in-Chief
Finally! The one true job in the blog team where you don’t get bossed around by me: your faithful editor-in-chief. After 5 years of blogging, I think it’s time that someone else shapes the EGU Geodynamics blog to their liking. To ensure a smooth transition and help you get to know all the tricks of the trade, I will stay on as the ‘official editor-in-chief’ for one more year (yes, I know: I just made that title up), but I’d like to start working in someone who can take over my blog duties from May 2023 onwards. The time investment of the editor-in-chief is variable, since you can determine for yourself how much work you pull towards you. You will notice for example that I have written and edited significantly less blog posts during the last 2 or 3 years than the years before. You can do whatever you like though: you can write and edit blog posts like the regular editors (see above), but most importantly you are in charge of making sure that the entire blog and social media and division contacts run smoothly and everyone is happy. This requires time investment and the so-called ‘mental load’. You need to be aware of what is happening and you pull the strings. It’s really quite fun, I tell you! Over the course of the year, you might spend 1 or 2 hours a week on the blog on average, but again: this is highly variable. In the run-up to EGU, you will have more stuff to do and in the summer months and fall (when everything is running smoothly), you can sit back and relax a bit more. So, do you want to be heavily involved in the blog and massively expand your network and profile within the geodynamics division? This is your chance! Contact me and we’ll sort out a way to get you up to speed with running the blog in a year!
WANTED: Illustrators / Graphic designers
All the regular blog posts on Wednesdays have a featured image at the top of the post, which is used to promote the blog post on social media. Usually, editors or guest authors just mess around, but over the past years we have seen how cool it is to have amazing illustrations alongside amazing blog posts. So, we want to up our game and get the creative and artsy among you involved! Hence, we are looking for illustrators and graphic designers who would like to support the regular blog editors by making illustrations and graphics for these blog posts if requested. Depending on how many times the regular editors reach out for a commissioned featured image, you are looking at providing an illustration 1-4 times during the blog year. So get your artsy skills in gear and come draw for us!
WANTED: Guest authors
If you don’t want to commit to being bossed around by me for an entire year, but you do have that one story / paper / joke / discovery to share with the geodynamics community, we are always looking for (one-off) guest authors. If you have an idea (or not; I would be happy to brainstorm with you), you can send an e-mail to me or one of the regular blog editors. Once you are set up with an editor, you will get a deadline that suits your schedule and off you go: writing to your heart’s content.
So, did I convince you? Is one of these roles within the blog team perfect for you? Do you have any questions before committing to a year of joyous blogging?
Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me by e-mailing to iris.vanzelst@dlr.de. Hopefully I can soon welcome you in our lovely team!
