If you have news, event or classified listings that you want to share with the NBN community, send your info to me for posting on the community board, to get the word out to everyone! Submissions can be sent to sanderling [at] symbiotic [dot] ca, with the subject line “NBN Bulletin Board”. Don’t forget to include your blog’s name and URL. The weekly board will be posted every Sunday.
Web Events
Today, August 2, a group of researchers departed San Diego for the North Pacific Gyre in order to study and quantify the Great Garbage Patch. SEAPLEX (Scripps Environmental Accumulation of Plastic Expedition) is a collaboration between the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the nonprofit Project Kaisei. Miriam Goldstein, a graduate student on the project, will be blogging and twittering the experiences and observations made during the trip. You can follow along at the expedition’s blog, or at their twitter account, @seaplexscience. “We would love it if you would consider blogging or tweeting about our expedition. Not only will this make poor soggy graduate students very happy, but it will help to fulfill the primary purpose of this voyage – to provide quantitative data on a widely publicized (and widely misunderstood) issue, and to share our love of the ocean with a broad audience.
Meet-ups and Field Trips
Connie of Birds O’ The Morning is organizing a Birds And Brews meet-up in Delta, Colorado, on August 6 (that’s this Thursday!). For more information on location and to RSVP, visit Connie’s post.
Community Causes – what our members are supporting
Amber of Birder’s Lounge invites nature bloggers to participate in the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup Day, on Saturday, September 19. Amber is currently working on recruiting volunteers in her home state of Texas. You can follow along with her progress at her website. Official registration begins tomorrow, August 3 – to join in, sign up here. Amber adds, “I think that we nature bloggers can play a vital role in spreading the word about this and other conservation causes.”
Websites of Interest
Many birders will be familiar with the website eBird.com, which allows users to track their bird observations through checklists and casual observations. Tania of ArtPlantae Today submits a similar site that perhaps may be less familiar to members: BirdPost. Similar to eBird in that users submit their observations to the site, it differs in that birds are mapped on a satellite image and which can then be searched by species or location. There is also a social aspect to the website that allows birders to connect with others – Dan Koeppel, author of To See Every Bird on Earth, calls it “Facebook for birders.” Even if you already use eBird, it might be worth a peek to see if this site might appeal to you.
Contests and Promotions
Amber of Birder’s Lounge also reminds members that her photo ID challenge and Do Something! (Good) campaign are always ongoing. Some great causes benefit from both of these, so swing by and participate, if you haven’t already!
