Seven years ago now (time flies!), we got an “ask us anything” question from Brazil-based ecologist Pavel Dodonov about contributions of scientists from developing countries to ecological research. Which led to a very thoughtful comment thread, with ecologists around the world sharing their experiences and perspectives. Which in turn led to a wonderful series of guest posts on doing ecology around the world–some of the best posts we’ve ever run. Brian, Meghan, and I all learned a lot from these posts, and they really resonated with our readers:
We’d like to revisit this topic. So we’re issuing an open call for guest posts on doing ecology around the world.
A few notes on what we’re looking for, and instructions on how to proceed:
For purposes of these guest posts, “around the world” means “anywhere outside the US and Canada.” We’re especially keen on posts about doing ecology outside Europe, and about doing ecology in places from which we’ve never had a guest post (China, India, Japan, Colombia, Singapore, South Korea, Ecuador, Argentina, Tanzania, Chile, Morocco, Mongolia…). But we’re open to guest posts from authors based anywhere outside N. America, or who have spent substantial time based anywhere outside N. America. Meghan, Brian, and I are all based in North America, and have been for decades (I spent four years in the UK as a postdoc back in the early oughts). Obviously we aren’t representative of all North American ecologists! But all of our posts reflect our own perspectives and experiences as North American ecologists. And many of our posts are about topics specific to North America. So we want posts about doing ecology elsewhere, from ecologists who are based elsewhere, or who have spent substantial time based elsewhere (not just visiting for field work). Note that you can write about your experiences doing ecology in North America as well, if you have them–for example, see Isabella Borges’ post, linked to above.
You don’t have to be a university professor. We’re happy to have posts from students, postdocs, government and NGO ecologists, etc. Isabella Borges wrote the post linked to above after completing an undergraduate degree, while considering where to pursue a graduate degree.
The more posts, the merrier. We don’t have any quota for the total number of posts, or the number of posts from authors based in any given country.
We’re not looking for posts that summarize ecological research–your own or anyone else’s. (That doesn’t mean you can’t mention your own research at all, of course.)
Posts need to be in English, but we’re happy to also post a translation into another language. Rather like how some journals publish paper abstracts in multiple languages.
We’re open to cross-posting on other blogs. But we would rather not re-post material that’s already been posted elsewhere.
There’s no maximum or minimum length. See the posts linked above to get a sense of the typical length.
Don’t worry if you’ve never written a blog post before. There’s a first time for everything. 🙂
Don’t sabotage yourself by worrying about whether your post will be “good enough,” or worrying that no one will want to read it, or etc. The only bad post, that no one will read, is the one that remains unwritten. (Ok, that’s not literally true, but you get the point.)
If you’re not sure what to write about, check out the posts linked above for some inspiration.
Don’t worry if you don’t use WordPress, or any other blogging platform. We’ll put the post up for you, so you don’t need to use WordPress at all. You can just send us an email or other document with the text you want to post (plus any images you want to post).
If you want to publish the post anonymously or under a pseudonym, that can be arranged. But Meghan, Brian, and I do need to know who you are.
If you want to write a post, email me (jefox@ucalgary.ca). Tell me who you are, where you’re based, a sentence or two about what you plan to write about, and a rough idea of when you think you could finish the post. There’s no hard deadline, but the sooner you contact me, the better. Our goal/hope is to accumulate a bunch of posts, and then run them as a series later this summer.
Looking forward to hearing from you! Seriously, we are really looking forward to hearing from you. Meghan, Brian, and I are excited about this series, and readers will be too. Let’s make it happen!