Posts I'm Thankful For This Year

I'm obviously thankful for a lot this year - family, friends, a job that gives me flexibility and keeps things interesting, and so on.  I"m very grateful for the opportunity to contribute at some great blogs beyond my own - Science Cheerleader, Earth & Industry, and Global Voices Online.  I thought I'd put together a post with some of my favorite links from the year -all from other people (aside from my participation in one podcast) that help me appreciate the variety of the communities I navigate.  I'll get right to it...

Links to all the posts that reviewed ScienceOnline 2010.  Looking forward to #scio11 as I've gotten to know the organizers a bit more over the past year.

Earth & Industry's Gang of Four Predictions for 2010.  Listen again to this podcast and see how we did. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with three real-deal green bloggers.

So I went to the White House today... few posts demonstrate the influence and independence of political bloggers than my pal John Aravosis' summary of his meeting with a few folks at 1600 Pennsylvania.  Since then other contributors to Americablog have met with the President directly.

Three Bad Ideas for Helping Haiti. This was the post that really turned me on to Alanna Shaikh's ideas about global development. I'm very grateful that I had the chance to chat with her - it was the first time I ever spoke with someone in Tajikistan...

The Great Backyard Bird Count.  I admit it - since I moved to NC and have a bigger backyard I've become a bit of a bird nerd.  Identifying birds and bird calls has become a bit of a family thing now, and that's a lot of fun.

Nothing is Going to Change Until We're in the Room.  Joanne Bamberger makes a pretty simple point here.  And she's right.  Her writing reminds me the mom-o-sphere is absolutely the most important online community there is.

Team WhyMommy's Virtual Science Fair.  To me this is one of 2010's best examples of a community coming together to support one of its own.  I'm very thankful that I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Susan Niebur this year, and watch her bridge communities.  I spent some time this year trying to think of ways to get mom bloggers involved with science bloggers and this remains better than anything I've tried.

Visualizing the BP Oil Spill.  To me the #1 story of the year was the underwater volcano of oil that gushed for three months in the Gulf of Mexico.  A lot of clever people used social media and technology tools to help spread the word and help people understand the magnitude of the crisis. This was just one example.

A Farewell to ScienceBlogs.  To me this post is the science blogging community's equivalent of Martin Luther nailing the 95 Theses to the door of All Saints Church.  (OK, that's a stupid analogy for so many reasons, but still, it was a big deal.)  Bora Zivkovic's departure from SEED Media's mothership wasn't the first act of defiance, and it probably wasn't the most impactful from a financial point of view.  But Bora is the heart and soul of this community and he's been at the forefront of a renaissance in science writing.

What is UP With All the Tutus?  Another great example of the mom-o-sphere coming together to help one of its own.  Catherine Connors didn't want to be the Belle of BlogHer, but a comedy (tragedy?) of errors made that happen.  The sad, sweet story of her nephew and how she enlists the support of other mom bloggers to help is enormously touching.

New Media, Old Media.  The Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism published an eye-opening report on the differences in coverage between the traditional media companies and the new-skool social media crowd.

Why Veterans Day Deserves To Be Celebrated.  Julie Marsh issues the serious smackdown to Penelope Trunk.  I know Julie pretty well and I think she really took her writing up a notch this year.