By Shane M. Hanlon

In mid-2014 we launched our Postcards from the Field campaign through our shiny-new Tumblr account where we asked you to share stories and photos from your field experiences. From the hundreds of postcards that have been submitted, we have learned about research from every continent and both poles. We’ve also created calendars from postcard images voted on by our members and the public.

It’s that time of year again. Whether you’re in the middle of a winter field season or preparing for the spring or summer, we want to hear about it. (Find out how to submit here). Borrowing from our initial post:

Science is one of the very few professions that involves fieldwork. This may not always seem like a benefit—especially not when low tide is at an ungodly early hour or you’re being devoured by insects while trying to record data—but for those of us who want to share our science with the wider world, it makes a great hook.

It’s exciting and eye-opening to see where people work, what questions they’re asking, and the journeys they take to get there. It reminds other scientists of the diversity of research and introduces members of the public to the fun, majesty, grubbiness, hardship, and wonder of studying science.

We will create a calendar again that will be distributed at the 2016 Fall Meeting. Every postcard submitted has the chance to be featured in our calendar like our cover image here:

 

Some other examples of postcards are below and the full list can be found here.

 

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Here’s how it works: take a picture of your field site. Submit it, along with a short, postcard-style note like the ones above, to our Tumblr site, and tag it as a “postcard from the field”.

 

Once you’re at the submission page, choose “Photo” from the drop-down menu of submission types:

 

Then upload your photo, include your postcard text in the caption area, and check the “postcards from the field tag:

 

We hope that you’ll share your work with us so that we can share it with the world. Submit your postcards today!

-Shane M Hanlon is an AGU Sharing Science Specialist