January 7, 2011

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Announcing The Open Lab Finalists!

It’s here! After more than a month of reviewing, I am pleased to announce the list of posts that will be included in this year’s edition – the fifth – of The Open Laboratory!

By Jason G. Goldman

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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

It's here! After more than a month of reviewing, I am pleased to announce the list of posts that will be included in this year's edition - the fifth - of The Open Laboratory!

In no particular order:

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Determining the ultimate composition of Open Lab is no easy task, especially since we started out with an unprecedented nearly 900 entries. Competition was fierce! In the end, these 50 posts (plus 6 poems and 1 cartoon), are representative of the best science and the best writing in the science blogosphere from 2010. Not only is the science accurate and the writing top-notch, but they are highly accessible, and they truly make the reader care about the topic. I hope that this final list succeeds in the goal of showcasing the breadth and depth of the science blogosphere and of highlighting the incredible diversity and talent among science bloggers.

But I could not (and would not) have done it alone! In addition to the hours of time (and cups of coffee and bags of Doritos) I spent reading and evaluating posts myself, forty reviewers gave their time and energy - over winter break, Chanukah, Christmas, and New Years - to respond critically and thoughtfully to the almost nine hundred posts that were submitted. Each post that made it to the final list has been reviewed by no fewer than six individuals across three rounds of review!

My unending gratitude goes to (in no particular order):

Thanks also goes to Andrea Kuszewski, who designed the cover (which will be unveiled at Science Online next week), and thanks in advance to Blake Stacey, who has just begun working with me on designing and typesetting the book. And, of course, to Blogfather Bora, who is not only the Open Lab Series Editor, but a mentor and friend to me, and to us all.

Congratulations on a job well done, everyone!

Finalists: you can look forward to receiving an email from me in the next day or so with further instructions. If you do not, please get in touch by emailing me: thoughtfulanimal[at]gmail[dot]com. For those of you who will be at Science Online, please look for me at the Books and Beer happy hour on Friday evening - I will have a sticker for you to add to your name badges. And you are invited to proudly display one or more of the following badges on your blogs and websites!

Reviewers: You're done! For those of you who will be at Science Online, please look for me at the Books and Beer happy hour on Friday evening - I will have an Open Lab Reviewers' sticker for you to add to your name badges.

Jason G. Goldman is a science journalist based in Los Angeles. He has written about animal behavior, wildlife biology, conservation, and ecology for Scientific American, Los Angeles magazine, the Washington Post, the Guardian, the BBC, Conservation magazine, and elsewhere. He contributes to Scientific American's "60-Second Science" podcast, and is co-editor of Science Blogging: The Essential Guide (Yale University Press). He enjoys sharing his wildlife knowledge on television and on the radio, and often speaks to the public about wildlife and science communication.

More by Jason G. Goldman

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