Being a relative newcomer to the blogging world, it is gratifying to see Inside the Brain listed in a great line up of  finalists for the Irish Blog Awards in the Science / Education category. 

The award is sponsored by Microsoft Ireland’s Developer and Platform Group and the awards will take place in Belfast later this month.

Although traditional scientific training typically doesn’t prepare scientists to be effective communicators outside of academia, there is a growing movement towards engagement between scientists and the public. It is something that I have always been interested in, and now new media forms, such as blogging, have made communicating scientific discoveries to the public so much more effective.

The 2005 Descartes science communication prize winner, Bill Bryson believes that “so much science is inherently interesting, and more effort is needed to get that across…you need to teach ‘normal’ people the wonder of science – you should be getting that even if you’re never going to be a scientist.”

He advises scientists hoping to communicate their work to the wider world not to ” lose your sense of wonder and don’t forget the wow factor. It’s the same in all walks of life, but for scientists, who might not be the best communicators, to forget these can be particularly tragic.”

That sense of wonder in science is still very much alive in me and I hope with this blog to be able to convey a little of that wow factor to readers for many years to come. Reading through the list of finalists in this awards category I can see that this is as true for them as it is for me.

Best of luck to everyone who has made it through to the final round of the Irish Blog Awards!