By the way, I really appreciate your kind comments about my website. Thank you, it really encourages me. I just subscribed to TWiV – in fact, iTunes is busy downloading the latest episode right now. Also, I will join biocrowd soon – thanks for the tip. Once I join, I will promote it on my website too.

Thank you for what you do.

Thank you very much for your comments – they mean a great deal to me.
I am always happy to encounter someone who understands what science
blogging is all about. Commenting is an integral part of blogging,
what turns a collections of posts into a community.

Most scientists of my generation will not blog – no matter how many
contests Nature sponsors, or what encouragement they receive from
bloggers. I doubt most senior faculty even read blogs! They most
likely believe the information contained in them is unreliable, and
not worth their time. All that matters is what will propel their
productivity. Not that being productive isn't terrific – but I have no
doubt that blogging would help most scientists. I've learned a huge
amount about other viruses by blogging, and it translates into more
ideas for my own research.

I always thought that the new, upcoming generation of scientists -
those trained in the web 2.0 age like yourself – would blend easily
with the web. But I'm no longer sure. When you get a science Ph.D. you
are trained to be very focused on your research and grants and nothing
else – and because you are trained by a senior person with little
interest in the web, you might not blog, podcast, or use open science,
for fear of falling out of favor. Perhaps it will take several
generations of new scientists to overcome the inertia – and by then
everything will have changed again.

Your blog 'Closing the Science Gap' is terrific. Good luck with it -
don't be surprised if it shows up soon on TWiV (you do listen to TWiV,
right?). And let me know if you need any help with your
closing-the-gap organization that you plan to start – I would be
pleased to participate.

I like the 'Closing the Gap' metaphor, as it's what I'm trying to do
with my blog. I also take a lead from Paul Offit, who said in a recent
interview that science in the US has taken a turn for the worse – in
terms of how public perceives it. It's time to turn that trend around,
which can only come from education, and fortunately we have the right
administration to address that problem financially. Science bloggers
can make a big contribution towards making Americans knowledgeable and
proud of science.

Thanks again for your support.

I just stumbled upon this blog post today, and I am glad I did. I think it's wonderful what you are doing with this blog. While I understand why this happens, it still disappoints me that most scientists get trapped in a cycle of grant-writing and publishing, without placing any or very low priority on other important things.

I am finishing up grad school (defending later in the spring), but I started a website a couple of months ago in hopes of closing some of the gaps between science and the public. In fact, one of my blog posts a little while back aimed to encourage other scientists to start blogs… so you can imagine my excitement to stumble upon your blog. I think it would be wonderful if more established scientists do the same as you.

Not sure it means much, but I just wanted to commend you and offer my support to what you're doing with this blog. Thank you.