I have been fairly absent from here over the last many months. I’ve wanted to write and even started a few posts but they never got completed. The clashing of personal (husband’s surgery) and work stresses (major grant applications that will allow me to continue my position in Sweden) this spring made for a hectic time. I never really regained my balance before summer started. And well, I’m a field ecologist at heart, so between fieldwork and vacation the weeks have flown by. The end result is that I’m out of the habit of writing regularly and I miss it.

As the fall approaches and regular schedules settle in, my plan is to practice what I’m about to teach. I will run a PhD short course on science communication this September. I am super excited about it! Science communication is a huge topic and we only have five days to cover it. Therefore I am thinking of the course as more of a way to open the door to the practice rather than anything comprehensive. But we’ll discuss a range of topics/approaches and the students will engage in some communication of their own. I suspect I’ll learn as much as they will!

Of course one thing we’ll touch on is blogging and the students will write a blog post as an assignment. However, it feels a little strange to discuss my blogging efforts when I have been so silent lately. So I’m using this course as a kick in the butt to begin regular blogging again. And here I am, making the committment so that writing doesn’t fall to the side again.

Also I’d love for any readers to share their science communication successes, failures, thoughts and advice for my upcoming course! I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.