Look, It's a Blog!

I've been contemplating writing a science blog for quite some time now. The issue that always crops up is what can I focus on that hasn't been talked to death? Then the anti-vaccine movement started to pick up speed. I could write an entire thesis on how much I hate this movement and why their "facts" are just pseudoscience*, but let's not go there. Like I said, talked to death.

* If you're a hard-core anti-vaxxer please just close this window and go away. I'm not going to respond to any of your comments, so we'll both be much happier if you don't bother reading my blog.

Where was I? Oh yes, why I'm writing. As I saw more and more intelligent people start to question the efficacy of vaccines due to heartfelt but sadly misinformed opinions, I began to recognize where health scientists had dropped the ball. Part of our job is to make sure the general public understands our research and what it means in regards to their well being. But too many times researchers talk in jargon without properly explaining themselves. I'd like to bridge that knowledge gap.

In my bio, I talk about my education thus far in my career. I want to be very forthcoming in that I am NOT an expert. I'm working toward that, but even then I'll only be an expert in a very limited field of science. What I can provide is a look into how science is conducted, how to read/interpret research papers, how to evaluate the strength of findings, and what to look for in media coverage of science stories.

These are things that I've slowly learned over the years and have found invaluable as I navigate the interweb googles. I don't think people need a degree to be able to intelligently dissect science. They just need a refresher in logical fallacies and a look behind lab doors. I hope I can provide those things.