The accidental science blogger

With time and nurture, Science in the Triangle will grow.

Starting this week, I’ll be blogging for Science in the Triangle, a site set up to cover science and technology news in the greater Triangle region of North Carolina. I truly feel like an “accidental blogger” here because it was only four months ago that I set up Wild Muse, almost on a lark, and stumbled into the world of science blogging. And so my head spun a little when my friend Bora Zivkovic asked me to blog for SIT.

The way I understand it, SIT began life as the shared child of a few area science communicators, some folks from Blue Pane Studios and the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, N.C. All the people involved were concerned about the dwindling coverage of science in the regional media due to the implosion of science journalism and newspapers in general. For example, the Triangle is one of the hottest areas for biotech businesses in the U.S., and a handful of top research universities are a stone’s throw from Research Triangle Park yet none of the major papers here — to my knowledge — have a dedicated science or biotech reporter left on staff.

In its early renditions SIT was mainly an aggregator site, capturing news articles and university press releases. But like an unfurling spring bud, there is more to come. The organizers are planning for Science in the Triangle to bloom into a thriving science news site, filled with original content rooted in the greater Triangle region. The first stage of this is now underway and the site is undergoing some changes; it is being shuffled over to Research Triangle Park and a handful of independent science writers and bloggers.

In its next phase, we’re working to build original content. Sabine Vollmer, a former biotech and pharma reporter for the News & Observer, will continue to cover her old “beat” on RTP by writing about the business of science at Science in the Triangle. In fact, she’s all ready been at it. Check out her recent post, Chasing an Idea, about entrepreneurial professors in our area.  Bora Zivkovic, an international social media guru and an “Online Discussion  Expert” for PLoS, will blog daily on the SIT Blog about science and science events in the Triangle. I’ll be covering local science events on the SIT Blog too, though not as voluminously as Bora. (Honestly, who on earth can match Bora’s volume?) The events I’ll cover will extend beyond the physical bounds of RTP proper to include the broader Triangle area.

So, bookmark the site and check back often. Slake your thirst for what’s going on in our little science corner of the Carolinas. And watch Science in the Triangle grow and unfurl its leaves in the coming months.

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