More Blogging Tips

Some things to note as you blog:

1. Remember that hotlinks should go within the body of your post, highlighting particular words in your sentences, not listed separately at the end. You can list additional references at the end, of course. Also, mix up your links. The best links are ones that support your claim or serve as precise reference for a specific concept. General info links (like Wikipedia entries) are okay, but don't work well if you link to some huge page explaning, say, "energy" in general.
   
2. Another hotlink practice to try is to link to other blog posts/news, aka backlinking (example here, backlinking to GG). Backlinking starts the "you-scratch...I scratch-yours" cycle that places you within the blogosphere community, and can start some rather friendly (or unfriendly) debates if you are writing a rebuttal to someone else!
   
3. Keep posts short! Obviously, the fun of blogging is that it takes many forms and sizes. But try practicing at least one post within the 250-word limit. Instead of explaining some common concepts, use hotlinks to a reputable source ("the reasons for buying sustainable seafood are well known...").
   
4. Don't forget to use labels/tags. These help categorize your post within the blog, making your post searchable. Try to pick labels that already have been used -- if someone already used "climate change", use that instead of making a new label of "global warming". Keep labels to keywords or timely lingo that readers could be attracted to. Use esoteric or specific terms as last resort.
5. Pictures are awesome.
   
6. Let your voice come through. Yes, our initial tipsheet is more for a "professional/corporate blog" -- as if you blogged on behalf of your NGO or agency. This can be a bit bland sometimes. But there may come a time when you are the focus: if you start a personal blog, or you're the star blogger for your org (à la Green Grok), or you're simply given free rein by your bosses to be more unconventional. You'll then have to let your personality come through, while being mindful of your audience (age, political affiliation, etc.). How would you say something in everyday conversation -- your figures of speech, humor, pop references? Blogging has its origins on online diaries and op-ed columns -- follow those roots, and creat your personality!
   

In all, great work on Blog #1. Great job on the tone and level of depth. There are some great hooks/ledes/headlines out there, as well as some good current events and commentary pieces. Check your posts for our comments, and we encourage all to read and comment on posts outside of your groups.

Live blogging at Sustainable Foods Seminar

http://www.nicholas.duke.edu/people/students/orgs-farmhand-seminar.html

• Yay Deb Gallagher, oh matron saint of ENV 301.25! (Deb co-advises the seminar with UNC partners)
  
• Kudos to Nicholas MEM's Cassie Ann and Gretchen
  

7:00PM - SEED (Durham, NC) - Kavanah Ramsier

• They campaigned to allow chickens in the City of Durham!
• DIG encourages local youth to get into the whole of food process, from encouraging peer education on planting science, managing gardens, marketing produce, and ecology of farming. Big emphasis on pollination, beekeeping.
  
• Weekly meals with the food they grow!
• On food justice:

  "It's appealing to kids that 50 cent or Beyoncé drink Coke."

• "We need to be thinking of ways to turn more consumers into producers of food."

7:20pm - Carrboro Farmers Market (Carrboro, NC) - Sarah Blacklin, Manager

• Chapel Hill area had a ton of markets (at churches, etc.) back in the 70's!
• North Carolina Agricultural Marketing Project forms the Carrboro Farmers Market in 1979 (Ken Dawson).
  
• Farmer-run, farmer-owned; farmers form 7-member board.
• All farmers live within 50 mile radius - reduces fuel cost.
  
• They even work with food stamps and cost programs.
• Brewmasters: they do hops!
• Buffalo jerky! Liverwurst! Kimchi! Gluten-free pies!
• Rule: farmers must grow their own. No reselling.
• Farmers are mandated to be within 50-miles of market.
• Unique Rule: Require farmers to be at market -- they can't send reps or farmhands.

  "The best way to learn about your food is from your buyers."

• Obesity program, giving families a plot to grow own produce.
• Starting a new organization called Friends of the Market, to do more community outreach and farmer support. Goals: access for minorities; CSA's for families in need; Spanish translation; group health insurance plan for farmers! Also catastrophe relief fund for farmers; scholarships for minority/farmer families in need.

7:36pm - Chatham Marketplace (Pittsboro, NC) - Mary DeMare, General Manager

• A young co-op, founded in 2003
• Counts local as 250-mile radius, to include coast; majority of local food comes from within 50-miles.
  
• 120 local producers; works with Eastern Carolina Organics
• Local rice! (204 miles, just into SC border :))
• $2.6 million in sales last year!

(dah... battery running out... cutting off any moment!)

7:42pm - Open Questions

• Concern over buyers assuming that local farms = organic. Sarah Blacklin: "Some farmers get defensive, but we encourage farmers to say, 'ask me about my produce' to get more clarity and detail. But farm practices really change from year to year -- it's not that clear cut. And every shopper has unique preferences on organics/spraying etc. I would love suggestions on better communication of practices."
  
• How do you enter the market... of the farmer's market? Sarah Blacklin: "Mid-week test to see if they are viable. Seniority is set for someone who does at least 17 weeks, to prevent fair-weather friends. There is also limits on crafts booths, to prevent it from becoming a flea market. But we have recently allowed farmers to take sabbaticals -- without losing seniority."
  
• How does a cash-based market deal with debit and credit society? Kavanah/Sarah: Carrboro has applied for a EBT machine to accept food stamps... but complicated situation dealing with LeafLife(?)...also complicated to have one machine for market, having someone manage the machine, and having a swipe/token exchange.
• Decrease in African-American farmers? Kavanah: That's certainly a focus of DIG is to encourage more urban families to learn about farming and food. All three panelists: we want to bring in and support minority farmers, but don't have/know a specific strategy for African-American farmers specifically.
  
• Better consumer education? (sorry... tuned out...)
  
• Most pressing concern for sustainable local food systems? Collectively: wow, tough questions... um, everything? Cost for consumers; cost/time for farmers to produce for market and make profit to sustain farm; young farmers face high start-up costs; and more...
• Where will supply come from with increasing demand? What are incentives for farmers to stay/start farming? Sarah: Young farmers are crucial. Eastern NC and mountain NC are suffering though, being far from markets like Durham/Raleigh. Triangle/Piedmont benefits from being close to markets, and small farms are growing!
  
• Promo for Real Food, Real Medicine conference.
  

(Reception time... nummy foods.... Peace!)
8:20pm

On the MOTE Blogroll...

I've linked a few sites on our blogroll, but I should give some introduction to them at this time...

ScienceBlogs (owned by SEED Media), Nature Blog Network (independent), and Nature Blogs (owned by Nature Publishing) are examples of blog networks. As mentioned in class, these are essentially organized blogrolls that have turned into a community portal. For example, ScienceBlog started about 3 years ago by seeking out the most popular and highest-quality science-related blogs. Now it serves as a one-stop source, organized by topics, for anyone interested in blogs on science. The network builds cred by assembling a high-caliber product that generates hits, and invited bloggers get a cut of the much-higher advertising revenue (and renown) they now enjoy.

Among ScienceBlogs are two noteworthy ones. 1) The Intersection is co-written by Sheril Kirshenbaum, a young professional now at the Nicholas School who has a great deal of science media experience. You can probably email her if you are interested in learning her past projects. 2) TetZoo is a favorite of mine, not only because I'm a dinosaur geek, but because it is an exceedingly well-written, well-researched blog. It's written by an academic mainly for an academic audience (or similarly literate enthusiasts), and the community is active in commenting on the blog. I admire Dr. Naish's posts because every little detail has citations, and the posts are always so full of personality. It's like reading a journal, but fun.

Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice, and Sunsets is an example of a personal blog with no intention of professional exchange, yet discusses science from the viewpoint of a professional. This could be what your own personal blog might look like someday, if you start one for the fun of it. It should be noted that Mr. MacPherson works for a marine conservation NGO, but to prevent conflicts in company representation, he must keep full separation of his blogging hobby from his daytime job. This is a key issue that all you need to heed, should you ever choose to maintain a personal blog.

Finally, check out the Green Grok and the Nicholas Hawaii Blog. These are a good example of weaving a blog into a comprehensive media outreach program. The Grok serves as the trusted, official voice of the Dean to the rest of the world, while the Hawaii blog showcases student experiences and learned facts as part of a greater promotional campaign.

Got a favorite sci/env blog? Send it over and we'll add it to the blogroll!

Some Carbon Credits Are Just All Wet

Massive hydroelectric dam projects in China and other countries are being marketed as viable carbon credits -- but under some very faulty logic, according to an AP report released today. Let's see why.

At the heart of the problem are the credits allowed under the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), a Kyoto-approved carbon market system. Carbon markets, you might remember, assume that we're all living under a giant bubble: if one country reduces its emissions, they're making a net subtraction for everyone in the bubble. This country now gets to market its subtractions as credits to other nations that don't want to bother with reductions. Under CDM, industrialized countries can buy carbon-reduction credits from developing countries (explained nicely here). What's the problem, then?

AP rightly points out the problem of "additionality" - if you're going to build a dam anyway to generate more power, you're not making a dent in the existing carbon levels of our little globe. Now, fix an existing nasty coal plant and lower its emissions, or replace a coal plant with a cleaner energy supply -- that will. And we haven't even mentioned the ecological and cultural damages that rampant dam projects can cause.

But it's a tough call. We like carbon credits because they allow polluting companies/nations to make some difference, and sooner. We like hydro projects because they are a form of clean energy. But not all credits are alike, and many dams are built with insufficient ecological considerations. The UN says it will be improving the CDM program, so stay tuned. Meanwhile, if your company or government is buying carbon credits or portfolios, do the due diligence.


(For a satirical take on the controversy over carbon markets, check out the classic CheatNeutral. Hey, as long as there is less adultery in the world overall, I can just pay someone else to not cheat, right?)

***NOTE Jan 27, 2009: I'm sitting in a lecture by Bryan Murray of the Nicholas Institute, and someone in class just mentioned that CDM is also rather unaffectionately called "rip-offsets"...

ENV 301.25 is profiled ... in a press release, no less

Students Take the Lead in Creating New Course on Communicating Science
By Robyn Walker, MEM ‘10
Jan. 21, 2009

DURHAM, N.C. – It’s necessary today for environmental managers and policymakers to have a strong understanding of science. Equally vital, however, is knowing how to communicate that understanding to nonscientists.

This spring, students at the Nicholas School are learning how to do just that.

(Full article here)

First Post!

Princesses of clean power and he-men of sustainability, hold your magical keyboards aloft and say, "I have the power!"