A new generation of scientists are embracing the chance to interact with each other and the public through social media (twitter, facebook pages and blogs). We’ve looked around and picked out some of our favourite geoscience blogs. Why not consider starting a blog for yourself or your research group? You could write about your own research, the best bits from your lectures or items in the news that you think could benefit from some analysis from a geoscientist. A good starting point can be to guest blog for somebody with an established blog. We accept guest posts on relevant topics, as do many other blogs.
Here’s a few of our favourites:
Climate and Geohazards Services
Climate and Geohazards Services, based at the University of Leeds, aim to raise awareness of current research and developments in the fields of climate science and natural hazards and help translate these into real benefits for people and organisations. The blog was established earlier this year and posts so far have covered flooding in Bangladesh, earthquakes in Istanbul and melting glaciers. This blog is managed by PhD student, Ekbal Hussain, and he welcomes guest submissions on relevant topics (email cgsleeds[at]gmail.com)
Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction
The government Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction (IRDR), is a rapidly growing group of PhD students, post-docs, lecturers and professors based at University College London (UCL) researching various topics in risk and disaster reduction. They maintain a group blog, where the various members contribute pieces on their field work and research. Recent posts cover Arctic field training in Svalbard, a visit to Tohuku University and field work in Abruzzo, Italy.
Disaster Planning and emergency Management
Professor David Alexander, a member of the IRDR at UCL, has his own blog where he writes about managing disasters from ship wrecks to nightclub fires. Some of David’s own research centres around L’Aquila, and this is evident in his blog posts. The blog is available in both English and Italian.
The Landslide Blog is an old favourite of ours, and it is run by Dave Petley, the Wilson Professor of Hazard and Risk in the Department of Geography at Durham University. His blog provides a commentary on landslide events occurring worldwide, including the landslides themselves, the latest research, and the outcomes of conferences and meetings.
We are also fans of the other blogs on the EGU blog network; geolog, green tea and velociraptors and Geosphere. Between them they cover a very wide range of topics!
