Nature Blog Network

Today, we’re talking to Christie Wilcox, who blogs at Observations of a Nerd. Christie is a molecular ecologist working towards a PhD in cell and molecular biology at the University of Hawaii. She loves animals, nature, the sea, and Hawaii, is passionate about her field and her work, and hopes to use her science to protect at-risk species. Her blog is fun, upbeat and friendly, meant to communicate science to anyone with any interest in it at all. She’s written an engaging autobiographical post, A Marine Biologist’s Story, that tells more about her interests and adventures. My favorite passage is near the end, when she writes:

That night I sat quietly and watched massive female green sea turtles dig their nests and drop hundreds of eggs into the sand. While they did, of course, I calmly checked their flippers for tags and tagged any that didn’t have them already. They didn’t run or flee as I touched them - once a female sea turtle has begun laying her eggs, she’s intent on finishing the job, and just about nothing will deter her from that task. To this day, the sight of those beautiful girls laying their precious eggs is still one of my favorite memories.

If you’d like to find her on Twitter, Facebook, or other social networking sites, check her google homepage.

Christie, why do you blog?

I started blogging last year because I really wanted to talk about the journal articles and science news that I was reading. I would go home to tell my boyfriend about studies, but I’d start talking and he’d look confused and then finally his eyes would glaze over and he’d give me that I-have-no-idea-what-the-hell-you-are-talking-about look. I realized that a lot of the articles (and thus a lot of what I was trying to share with him) are full of jargon and overly technical, and I thought to myself “no one is going to have a clue what this is about unless they do this for a living.”

I didn’t really think about a blog until my friend Allie had to start a blog (Oh, For the Love of Science!) for a graduate course she was taking. It was like a light bulb lit up. I figured I could be a translator, using a blog to communicate science to the rest of the world. I’ve always loved to write, and I thought other people might appreciate science more if they could understand what was being done.

What are the best and worst things about blogging?

The best part about blogging, for me, is when you know you’ve shared information that someone else really got something out of. Whether you made their day with a great picture or taught them something they didn’t know before - that’s what I really love to see from my readers. I can tell when someone comments and they’ve really enjoyed what I wrote or taken away something from a post. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy about it.

The worst part is not having enough time! I wish I had enough free time to write about everything I like, but since I don’t get paid for blogging, I can’t spend as much time on it as I’d like to. It kills me when I end up passing on writing about something really cool that I think my readers would have really liked.

How has blogging changed how you think about nature? or how you write?

Blogging has definitely made me more aware of everything around me. I was always an outdoorsy, nature-loving girl, but I look at things even more closely now. I pass by a beautiful tree or a flower and think “maybe I should take a picture to share with my readers” or I go hiking and can’t wait to share what I did that day.

Blogging has changed my writing, too - for the better, I think! Having so many people read what I write makes me think a little more before posting. I proofread more than I might otherwise, and really think about what I’m saying. I ask myself “did I make it clear enough?” “did I explain why this is so important?” “did I get someone else excited about this?”. I’ve become much more critical of what I write because I want to make sure it’s easily understood yet interesting and exciting.

How do you promote your blog and attract readers?

At first I really worked hard to get people to my site. I’d post my blogs on Reddit or Digg, comment everywhere, and I really went at it. That’s difficult to keep up for long, so once I had some readers, I kinda backed off. Now, I just have my blogs automatically post to Facebook and Twitter for the most part. I tweet about other things, too, particularly other tweets that I think are interesting, and my facebook is open for anyone to see. I want people to be able to get to know me as well as my writing - I’m proud of who I am and what I write, so I’ve got no reason to keep my identity a secret. I figure if someone likes me and what I write about, they’ll follow my blog. Those are the people I want reading it anyhow.

Is there a story behind the name of your blog?
Well, if it’s not obvious, I’m a total nerd. I’ve always taken the title as a badge of honor - Nerdiness is cool, to me. My blog was going to be mostly me writing about things that catch my eye, so “Observations of a Nerd” seemed appropriate. It’s just a collection of anything and everything that piques my interest, from news to pictures to random things. I didn’t want to commit to one field or another in the title because I love writing about all kinds of science, though the biologist in me is often attracted to biology-related topics.  I’ve been known to dabble in Physics, Astronomy, and even, on very rare occasions, politics, so I wanted the name broad enough to cover whatever I felt like writing about.

Do you feel you’re part of a community with other nature bloggers?

The nature bloggers I know are fantastic. They’re like a family, and I feel that I can ask them about things and talk to them even though I’ve never met them in person. Everyone is friendly, outgoing, and really nice.

When I started blogging, my online community was just me and my friend Allie, but as I felt I connected with what other people wrote, I’d comment or even e-mail them to say ‘great post’ or ‘I like your work’. I was shocked at how friendly and open they were in responding to my e-mails. I’ve made a few fast friends, and I definitely feel I’m part of a bigger community.

Any words of wisdom for new nature bloggers?

Just write what you love. It makes it so much easier to write about things that appeal to you than to try and pick “good” stories or things you think will drive traffic. Comment on other blogs and introduce yourself. Letting people know you exist is the best way to get someone to read your stuff. If you really are passionate and open dialogues with other bloggers, the followers will come.

Anything else you’d like me to ask you, or that you’d like to volunteer without being asked?

Gosh, I don’t know! If there’s anything else you want to know, feel free. I’m pretty open and outgoing about things, so whatever you might want to ask, just ask!