By Shane M Hanlon

Me in my happy place.

I’m an ecologist by training. Specifically, I did my dissertation work on the amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (we call it Bd) and how it’s affected by environmental contaminants such as pesticides. Every summer I take a break from the concrete jungle of DC and head to rural Pennsylvania to teach a field course for the University of Pittsburgh Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology (my undergrad alma mater).

As I’m not the “typical” professor (if there is such a thing), I put a large focus on communication of science outside of academia. My students discuss science in pop culture, learn about science communication, and are required to submit blog posts about wildlife diseases. The idea is to feature content (mostly) about diseases that is accessible to any audience.

Over the next couple weeks, I’ll be cross-posting their posts on The Plainspoken Scientist (not all of them – I have 12 students and they’re required to do four posts a piece). I’m also taking over AGU’s Instagram next week. I figure it can’t hurt to get a little biology flavor into the Earth and space science community. So, stay tuned and enjoy!

–Shane M Hanlon, PhD is Program Manager of AGU’s Sharing Science program and a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Find him on Twitter @EcologyOfShane.