Microbes et al.

In this first draft I present the layout of the personal blog I’m developing for this seminar. The blog will be called “Microbes et al.” and it’s under the WordPress system. The name is an allegory to the major role of microbes in shaping the environment and the ecosystem.

The audience for this blog is the curious general public concerned about environmental sustainability. Examples of this audience are NGO coordinators, extension officers, environmental journalists, the wide science community, and graduate students. This blog will be a resource to an increasing group of professionals and individuals that seek reliable and sound information on how human activities impact the sustainability of planet earth. Microbes et al. will cover topics from microbial ecology, greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient pollution, environmental pollution, and human activities.

Below is a print screen of the blog front page.

This blog is organized into 5 main sections with a total of 7 sub sections (in a drop-down menu) as presented above and described below:

• About – This section contains three sub sections (About Microbes et al.; About my current research (see example below); About the author). These pages will be generally static with basic information about the blog and the author.
• Commentaries – This section contains two sub sections (Miguel Semedo; Friends). This section will have continuos posts that will include brief commentaries to recently published scientific literature. The commentaries will be written by me and peers/friends/colleagues that I’ll invite to participate.
• Postcards – This section contains two sub sections (Postcards from the field; Postcards from the lab). Here I will add posts with pictures from my research activities with a brief description of the action (see example below).
• News from Miguel’s research – Without subsections, here I will add the most recent news from my research. For example, if we take some results to a conference, I would add a brief summary of those results in appropriate language to lay-person audience.
• Reports you want to know – Here I plan to add links to publicly available reports on the topics covered. Specifically, from federal and international agencies, such as USDA, EPA, or WHO, with an associated personal highlight.

With this blog, I expect the audience to think that microbes and their activities are extremely relevant to the sustainability of earth ecosystems and that they are also susceptible to changes caused by human activities. Moreover, I expect the audience to feel that research in this field is extremely necessary so we can understand, predict, and help mitigate negative impacts of anthropogenic changes in microbial communities. I also expect the readers to share the blog contents through their social networks.

I plan to work with Janet Krenn in order to improve the blog interface and the contents selected. For now, the blog is private but let me know if you want to receive the contents already uploaded (About the blog; About my current research; Postcards from the field). The blog will become public in early January.

Miguel Semedo