July 18, 2011

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Circus of the Spineless

By Kevin Zelnio

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This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

Since 2009, I have enthusiastically administered the Circus of the Spineless - a monthly traveling blog carnival about the most important of all animal life, the invertebrates. Though my own involvement goes back to 2007, the carnival is one  of the longest running science and nature blog carnivals going starting in 2005. Even Sci-Am's own blogfather and network wrangler, Bora, appeared in the inaugural edition nearly 7 years ago!

What is a spineless blog carnival? It's a monthly gathering of fantastic science writing on blogs without any of that backbone! Blog authors are encouraged to submit a link or two to their favorite invertebrates blog posts, either their own or someone else's. Its a great community exercise that packages up last month's best posts. Entries don't always have to be written though. Many natural history blogs post pictures of backyard wanderings with little text. Pictures, after all, can speak volumes. So make sure you follow the links each each to new edition of the Circus, read the posts that catch your eye, volunteer to host an edition of the carnival yourself and submit to the next month's circus!

Each month, as I do on the marine science group blog, Deep Sea News (where I serve as Assistant Editor, webmaster and contributor since 2007), and the Circus' homepage I will update readers here on the whereabouts of the Circus. You can always submit posts either to me at kzelnio at gmail or to the host directly. The information for next month's submission is always at the end of the most recent Circus and on the Circus homepage.

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I am VERY pleased to announce that the July edition is hosted at Scientific American Blog's own The Artful Amoeba! Please go check it out. Jennifer has weaved together many marvels to be had there from land to sea! If you haven't yet already her last couple posts too, she is a masterful writer! Also, this is Scientific American's first blog carnival but it won't certainly be the last since I am hosting the August edition. So, please send me your spineless links by August 7th for inclusion.

 

About Kevin Zelnio

Kevin has a M.Sc. degree in biology from Penn State, a B.Sc. in Evolution and Ecology from University of California, Davis, and has worked at as a researcher at several major marine science institutions. His broad academic research interests have encompassed population genetics, biodiversity, community ecology, food webs and systematics of invertebrates at deep-sea chemosynthetic environments and elsewhere. Kevin has described several new species of anemones and shrimp. He is now a freelance writer, independent scientist and science communications consultant living near the Baltic coast of Sweden in a small, idyllic village.

Kevin is also the assistant editor and webmaster for Deep Sea News, where he contributes articles on marine science. His award-winning writing has been appeared in Seed Magazine, The Open Lab: Best Writing on Science Blogs (2007, 2009, 2010), Discovery Channel, ScienceBlogs, and Environmental Law Review among others. He spends most of his time enjoying the company of his wife and two kids, hiking, supporting local breweries, raising awareness for open access, playing guitar and songwriting. You can read up more about Kevin and listen to his music at his homepage, where you can also view his CV and Résumé, and follow him twitter and Google +.

ResearchBlogging.org Editor's Selection Posts on EvoEcoLab!

More by Kevin Zelnio

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