We’ve come a long way since launching the blog in February of 2013. For one, there are a lot more of you following us and reading posts on a regular basis.

So we’re interrupting our normal content to post a quick “nuts and bolts” refresher in the hope of improving your experience here and encouraging more participation.

Content:

This blog is an informal communication medium of the NSF’s Division of Environmental Biology. You can share with us anything you’d like us to know and we can provide you with information, pass along news and announcements, respond to your questions and comments and share our experiences. Suggestions for new and follow-up post topics are always appreciated.

Why doesn’t DEBrief run reader polls and ask for discussion of specific scenarios?

Soliciting advice or information from the public (e.g., us asking you questions that could be seen as placing undue burden on your time) is governed by various laws and takes place through formal mechanisms, for example by the BIO Advisory Committee. The blog is not an approved formal mechanism for doing this.

Comments:

Please do: your questions, comments, responses to posts, and even general venting are all welcome. We started the blog because we wanted to create an open opportunity for two-way communication between DEB and the research community.

Comments are moderated (see the blog policies) so an email address can be useful for follow-up but isn’t required. In fact, you can comment without filling in any of the information and stay anonymous if you wish.

Schedule:

We try to have something new roughly every week but make no guarantees since we put a high premium on quality content and also have other responsibilities, for example: managing proposal review.

For your convenience, you can click the links to the right to receive notifications of new posts or to subscribe via an RSS.

Sharing:

DEBrief is more than just captivating original content you might “like”. We also bring you important reminders and critical updates related to new and ongoing funding opportunities. Help us get this information to everyone who would benefit from seeing it. Sharing buttons for various traditional (email, print) and social (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit) media are at the bottom of each post.

Navigation:

Old posts are below and will continuously load as you scroll deeper into the past. Since some are quite long, most content for older posts has been moved below the fold. A search function, categorical filters, and monthly archives are available via the menus on the right-hand side of the page.

Up top, we have some tabs with permanent information:

• “DEB Resources and Links” takes you directly to frequently sought official information hosted on the NSF.gov website.
• “About” lists who we our and our aims in presenting information here.
• “Blog Policies” explains what you should expect from us and what we expect from you while interacting through the blog.