Why Do I Blog

I started this blog for the same reasons that I went to graduate school and that I teach. I think chemistry is really cool and would like to tell other people about it. As a lifelong science nerd and a chemist I've always been little frustrated the chemistry seems to get short shrift in the media. When you hear about science in the news it's seldom about chemistry. And when you DO hear about chemistry it's all about how bad chemicals are.

I have three main goals in writing for this blog. First of all I want to write about chemistry that I think is really interesting in a way that is accessible to anyone with an interest in science, in particular the students in my classes. Second, since I spend all of my time with college students, I'll write about things that I think might be helpful for them as students. Finally, for my own edification I plan to write about current research in chemistry.

Two sites that made a big impression on me in starting this blog are Mike Kaspari's blog Getting Things Done in Academia, and Researchblogging.org. Dr. Kaspari is a biologist who writes advice for grad students in biology, but his advice is good for any student. Unfortunately he hasn't been posting much this semester, I hope to see more from him soon.  Researchblogging.org is a web site that collects blog posts about peer-reviewed research in all areas of science.  I recommend both sites highly.

I'm still new at this and don't have many readers at the moment, but if you see something you like or have a suggestion I would like to hear from you.  Please leave a comment.