Welcome back: plans for the BioFresh blog in 2011

Frozen Port Meadow, Oxford. January 2011. (image R St.John)

Welcome back to the BioFresh blog – and a belated happy new year.  Things have been quiet on the blog recently, due to a combination of the winter break and various admin changes.  However, we’re back in the swing of things and excited about the prospect of a rejuvenated site in 2011.

We’ll be aiming to post at least once a week on a host of environmental issues – often focussing on (but not limited to) freshwater biodiversity conservation.  We’ll be continuing to publish pieces on current and cutting edge issues like alien and invasive species; citizen science and the use of new technology in conservation and science communication; and aim to draw on the expertise of individuals within BioFresh (and beyond) to give insider expertise on a range of issues.

In February we will be live blogging from the BioFresh conference in Barcelona to give a live update of the discussion of important cutting edge issues in the conservation of our rivers and lakes.  We will be continuing to develop and link in with the BioFresh website and Cabinet of Freshwater Curiosities to provide a range of ways of engaging with the project and the important issues.

We are always very keen to receive suggestions for topics or stories, and comments and criticism on anything we write – and can be reached through biofresh@ouce.ox.ac.uk

Blogs have the potential to really make scientific information and discussion more open, accessible and democratic – as Sarah Tomlin writes: “Blogs are windows into academic coffee room chatter of the sort the media is not normally privy to” (Tomlin 2007: 23).

We’re very keen to hear your voice in this debate.

Thanks,

Rob St John

Communications & Project Co-ordinator – BioFresh
Oxford University Centre for the Environment