The people who make the Node happen
Posted by the Node, on 3 July 2015
This year we are celebrating the Node’s 5th anniversary, and this wouldn’t have been possible without the help of many people. Our biggest thank you goes to you, our community! The Node is only a lively, dynamic website because you read, post, comment and share the word with your colleagues.
Another big thanks goes to The Company of Biologists, the not-for-profit publisher behind the Node, as well as the editors and staff at Development for their contributions. We’re also hugely grateful to Jane Alfred, who was the Executive Editor at Development when the project was launched, and Eva Amsen, the first Node community manager. It’s thanks to their efforts and vision that the Node exists!
Many hundred people have contributed to the Node in the last 5 years, but a few authors stand out for their long engagement with the Node, and the number of posts they’ve contributed. As a special thanks, here are the Node’s top contributors (other than the internal staff) in the last 5 years!
“Being a blogger on the Node has given me a great opportunity to develop my science writing skills and gain experience in communicating science while still doing research as a postdoc in the lab. I’m convinced that this experience also set me apart from other applicants when I applied for my first editorial jobs.”
Natascha first contributed to the Node in 2010, when she was doing a postdoc with James Briscoe at the NIMR. She reported from meetings, interviewed scientists, wrote about papers and considered alternative careers. She has now moved on to a career in publishing, and is currently an Associate Editor at Nature Cell Biology.
“A great place to write (and occasionally rant) for its own sake, but which has useful and totally unpredictable outcomes too (like book offers). A blog version of what science should be.”
Thomas has contributed to the Node since 2011, when he was a postdoc with Richard Wingate at King’s College London. Over the years Thomas has shared his thoughts on a variety of topics, from specific research papers to the state of science funding. He now has his own lab at Queen Mary University of London.
“I always get excited to see posts on the Node from students and postdocs, especially the summer blog from the Woods Hole Embryology Course. As an alumnus of that course, it’s fun to see the lineage continue and to hear first hand how the amazing experience impacts each class of participants.”
Kim started posting on the Node in 2010, when she was a postdoc with Cliff Tabin at Harvard Medical School. At that time she was establishing jerboas as a model to study limb development. Since then she has started her own lab at UC San Diego.
“I first dipped my toe into the pool of blogging with the Node, and it has helped me to both improve my writing and communicate about frogs, developmental biology and science in general!”
Gary has written about a variety of topics over the years, from posts about Xenopus research, to discussions on the different issues with the current scientific system and, more recently, advertising the Young Embryologists Network USA meetings which he organises. In his early days as a Node blogger he was a PhD student at the University of Cambridge with Anna Philpott, but he is now a postdoc with Michael Levin at Tufts University.’
“As a lecturer and researcher in Developmental Biology, the Node is a fantastic resource, not only for information about some of the latest research highlights but also education resources such as a “day in the life of a (insert your favourite model animal) lab” and outreach activities.“
Megan first started writing for the Node in 2013, after hearing about it at the ISDB meeting in Mexico. She has her own lab in Otago, and her posts have kept the Node community up to date with some of the developmental biology research and activities going on in New Zealand.
EuroStemCell bloggers
The Node has collaborated with EuroStemCell for several years. Every month a post about a stem cell image published in a recent paper is highlighted on both EuroStemCell and on the Node. We would like to thank Erin Campbell and Christèle Gonneau, the two bloggers who have participated in this collaboration:
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