TO95 Assimilated By DSN?

The word is out now. The blogosphere is a-buzz. Kevin Z is now officially writing for Deep Sea News as a fixed member of their team. I'm very excited to be working with Craig and Peter. They are a great couple of deep diving dudes with an accomplished scientific record to boot. From the comments over at DSN, people seemed a bit concerned about TO95. So here are some FAQs.

What does this all for The Other 95%? Well, nothing really. I'll still keep pluggin along here. Everything that I want to write about thats above 200m or terrestrial will remain here. This is also the home for my spineless music and personal ramblings.

Will we still be able to hear all the news and views of the world's most under-appreciated majority? Yes! I will still bring you content on the most amazing creatures this world has ever seen. Content may be more abbreviated, which may result in there being more of it.

You promised to do all these blog carnivals, your not backing out are you? I will still host blog carnivals occasionally as I've always done here. In fact, I will be looking to host blog carnivals on DSN as well.

Your not selling out are you? Yes and no. Sure, ScienceBlogs pays. But not that much and it will be split 3 ways. Peter and I will have enough to buy a box of diapers and Craig donates his to Oceana. Its nothing that will make a living. My reasons for joining are not monetary. I am passionate about the deep sea and enjoy working with Craig and Peter. DSN provides a high visibility outlet for me as well.

Won't you be stretched a little too thin? Yes, but I am always stretched out thinly. That is the nature of being a successful scientist. Involving yourself in several projects. Starting new collaborations while putting the finishing touches on old ones. My writing at TO95 and DSN nearly always takes place at home on my time, after my kids have gone to sleep. When I am in my office, I work on papers and my dissertation. My advisor wishes I could would work on my dissertation and papers during this time. But sometimes you need to do other things. Many grad students I know read trashy science fiction or romance novels. Many watch T.V. or play video games. Some spend their nights at the bars or other social places. I sit at home in blog in my spare time. I fail to see how blogging is any more of a time waster than those other activities. My blogging has led to great collaborations, friendships, potential job opportunities, educational outreach opportunities, being noticed by more established faculty and researchers, and improved writing that carries over to my dissertation. Jennifer Ouelette said her keynote address to the Science Blogging Conference that her blog was her 'writing lab'. This is a wonderful analogy that I will "link to" often in explaining why I blog.