Kim at All of My Faults Are Stress Related asks:
I've got a question for women readers, especially those in the geosciences, environmental sciences, or field sciences: what do you get out of reading blogs? And if you have a blog yourself, what do you get out of writing it?
I'm asking because there's a session at this year's Geological Society of America meeting on "Techniques and Tools for Effective Recruitment, Retention and Promotion of Women and Minorities in the Geosciences" (and that's in the applied geosciences as well as in academia), and I wondered whether blogs (whether geo-blogs or women-in-science blogs or both) help.
Please do go read her post and, if you are a woman in one of the relevant research fields, leave your 2 cents worth in the comment thread. The post is a wonderfully written examination of Kim's reasons for blogging - you'll enjoy it on it's own terms, even if you don't want to contribute to the comments.
Like Zuska, I'd encourage you to go read the post and share your stories. Even if you don't identify as a geologist, but you do field work, environmental science, meteorology, oceanography, ecology, astrophysics ... What has being part of the blog community as a reader, commenter, or blogger given you?