11 July 2011

New kid on the block: Georneys joins AGU’s blog network

Posted by

A blog on geological musings, wanderings, and adventures, called Georneys, has joined AGU’s network of Earth and space science blogs. With the addition of Georneys on July 11, the AGU Blogosphere has grown to showcase 8 independent blogs since its launch last fall.

“One reason I write this blog is to maintain my sanity as I finish up my PhD. In the midst of much stress, long days in lab, and long nights writing thesis chapters, I write to remind myself of why I love geology,” says Georneys blogger Evelyn Mervine. “I also write to document some of my geological adventures and to share my love of geology with others.”

Mervine runs the blog while pursuing her doctorate in marine geology and geophysics at the MIT/Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program. She decided to name her blog Georneys because the study of geology takes her “many places — physically, intellectually, and philosophically”. Some of the blog’s regular features are “Geology Word of the Week”, “Bad Geology Movies”, and “Holiday Rocks”.

In the aftermath of Japan’s Mw. 9.0 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami last 11 March, Mervine posted a series of 20 highly-popular interviews with her father, Mark Mervine, a nuclear engineer and retired United States Navy Reserve commander about the earthquake-damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The series, which the younger Mervine is currently transcribing and compiling into an e-book, was very well-received, quadrupling Georneys’ readership. Mervine attributes the interviews’ popularity to the fact that she and her father “strove to stick to science and facts and to avoid politics” and made the information “very approachable — a father explaining nuclear power and the Fukushima crisis in plain English to his curious daughter.” The Mervines dedicated much time to interacting with their readers; they even released a special interview answering questions from a follower in Japan.

As it welcomed Georneys to the fold, the AGU Blogosphere has combined two of its staff-written blogs: Meetings, which was only active during AGU-sponsored conferences, has merged into GeoSpace. The resulting blog will continue to cover science presented at AGU conferences, with an emphasis on the Fall Meeting, but it will also offer discussion, year-round, on new findings in Earth and space sciences.

AGU wants to continue expanding its blog network: Earth and space scientists with an established science blog are welcome to contact the AGU Blogosphere’s community manager, Maria-José Viñas, at [email protected]

— Maria-José Viñas, AGU science writer