Amazons and Goliaths, my #SciFund expedition blog, now available!

Back in November, when I went on a trip supported by two rounds of #SciFund money, I made a “virtual expedition” blog for my supporters.

I called it “Amazons and Goliaths” after the titles of my two #SciFund projects: Doctor Zen and the Amazon Crayfish Civilization and Beach of the Goliath Crabs. To read it in chronological order (recommended), start at the bottom of this page and read backwards. Pretend you’re reading manga.

The blog has been mostly quiet since November, but I’m starting to do some of the analysis of the data I got, and it will get updated occasionally as I go along.

At the time, I had it pass word protected as a benefit to those who supported me. But that’s long gone now, and two events are coming that have convinced me it’s time to make it available to anyone who wants to have a peek at what I was doing.

First, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is holding a webinar on science crowdfunding:

Crowdfunding Science: Appealing to the online community for research money

Event Date: January 29, 2013 12 p.m. Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific, 5 p.m. GMT, 6 p.m. CEST

With federal and state funding for science on the downward trend, many young scientists are bypassing the grant writing process and appealing directly to the public via the Internet for money to support their research. Crowdfunding, as it is known, holds huge potential for scientists who can effectively capture the imagination of the public and get them to open their wallets in support of science.

In AAAS MemberCentral’s webinar "Appealing to the online community for research money", we’ll look at #SciFund Challange, a website that helps researchers get their projects funded by the public, and we’ll also hear from two scientists who successfully funded their projects via the crowd. We’ll find out what they learned along the way, share tips on how to reach your funding goal and give you an opportunity to ask the panelists questions.

There is also going to be a symposium on social media at the next AAAS meeting in Boston in mid-February. Jai Ranganathan will be talking about #SciFund.

The second event this week that made me open up the expedition blog is Science Online 2013. Since that conference is all about things like #SciFund, I want to give fellow attendees a chance to see that part of my project.

External links

Amazons and Goliaths