Dr. Daniel P. Brown (formerly "Irradiatus") may be doing a second post-doctoral research job at Carnegie Mellon University at the lab of Dr. Veronica Hinman to study the evolution of developmental gene networks, and the creator of the magnificent blog Biochemical Soul where he writes about science, nature, outreach and evolution, but he's also one of the nicest biologists I've ever interviewed!

Not only did he thank me for doing the Q&A before it had even begun ("First off, I’d like to thank you so much for inviting me for this interview. It’s not often I get to talk about myself knowing that I’ve been given license to do so. I hope that your readers will find something entertaining or educational in my answers," he said) but he was also apt to answer all of my questions on marine biology even though that wasn't exactly his focus.

It was a pleasure to hear his responses!

As an academic ecologist researching or teaching about ecosystems, a common dilemma is the issue of how to define the boundaries of a system. Where, for example, does the Chesapeake Bay end and the Atlantic begin? What is the edge of the Hubbard Brook ecosystem? Et cetera. But there is one major exception to this rule: planet earth. We can define the edges of that superecosystem reasonably well. For all practical purposes we are limited, as a global society, to the resources we have here, with the single major exception of incoming solar radiation.

Humans have now grown in abundance and influence to the point where we are the force of nature. Which begs the ultimate practical question about ecosystems: How is humanity interacting with the planetary ecosystem, and is this suite of interactions sustainable?

Obviously, this generation is not the first to ask these questions. In 1972, a team lead by Donella Meadows from MIT published a book called “The Limits to Growth” (LTG), which presented results of a computer modeling study commissioned by a think-tank, The Club of Rome, concerned about the mounting impacts of unsustainable human activities on the earth system. They examined the interactions of five subsystems of the global economic system: population, food production, industrial production, pollution, and consumption of non-renewable natural resources. The model began in 1900 and continued to 2100. The model was able to reproduce broadly the historical data to the year 1970.

Sustainability: the capability to endure.  In biological terms, it can be applied to every facet on Earth, but especially the ability for an ecosystem to maintain ecological process, functions, biodiversity, and productivity over time and into the future.

It seems Jeff McIntire-Strasburg knew he had a good thing going when he came up for the idea for a blog on environmental issues and all things green with Sustainablog in 2003.  This nature lover wanted (and still wants) the world to learn how to help protect and sustain our natural environmental. 

This includes marine ecosystems, life, and landscapes of course.

We know Jeff will be blogging to a greener world--whether it means nature, marine energy, conservation, or climate change.  We'd like to think his blog, tips, news, and information are some of the ways that will help sustain our marine world--and the entire globe.

The health of marine ecosystems is declining.  So says James Douglass, a marine ecologist working at the Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce, Florida. Unfortunately, there are many factors behind these declines, both man-made and natural, and it can be challenging to figure out which are the most significant and how we should address them."

These are just some of the questions James asks himself almost everyday as he continues to research this and other matters of marine ecosystems, his goal being to describe and protect the biological diversity and beneficial functions of coastal marine habits.  As the oceans are threatened by both its natural ups and downs and issues like decreasing water quality and too much of an overharvest of important marine species, James continues to research what might truly be the cause. 

He writes about his experiences on his site: James' Blog, where he also gets to boast about his windsurfing expeditions.

When we first learned of the Blog Your Way to Antarctica Trip contest being conducted by Quark Expeditions, we had no idea our very own guest blogger GrrlScientist was in the running!! And not only is she in the running...but she is in third place!! With your help, that can all change...

And why is Ms. GrrlScientist worthy enough of this escapade? 

Well, besides the fact that she's a great girl and she keeps fish---

"In fact, the first pet I ever kept and bred were fish, and they were wonderful teachers for developing both a sharp eye for detail and a disciplined husbandry technique that was extremely useful later when I started keeping and breeding rare parrots," she said in a previous post for us back in January 2009.

She is also extremely well-qualified.  She has her PhD in Zoology. She's studied whales and seals and has learned how hormones help birds cope with extreme environments, like the Arctic. She's a Scienceblogger of the acclaimed ScienceBlogs series.  She has A LOT going for her. She knows how to deal with adventures and new environments.  And best of all, she always shows her gratitude to people like you! 

From potential doctor to...reefer? Well, not exactly.  But David Dobbs' knowledge in science, medicine, and neurology does come in pretty handy when he writes Neuron Culture, an environmental blog turned scientific because of Dobbs' background in medicine. And yet he freely writes on all topics to satiate his own curiousity.

But it's his articles and books on fisheries, reef genesis, and marine biology that really get our temperatures rising--and Dobbs is there to keep us waiting with bated breath for his next big thing.

Dobbs has already written two books that have become classics for The Reef Tank.  The Great Gulf, about fish populations, follows arguments about everything from fish regulations to counting fish, while Reef Madness, gives us the inside scoop on reef genesis. We can't get our hands off both. 

Discoblog is Discover magazine’s compendium of quirky, funny, and surprising science news from the edge of the known universe.  In an effort to promote marine news in a new unconventional style (and a fun one to boot), we’ve asked the writers of Discoblog, Discover’s deputy web editor Melissa Lafsky and Allison Bond , to come up with their own lineup of entertaining and enjoyable marine news, along with a few of their own past marine news blog pieces. 

Here’s what Allison ever so cleverly came up with.

There isn't a shadow of a doiubt that James Hrynyshyn is someone to watch.

Or at least someone to read for that matter.  This marine biology degree holder is also a science journalist who has covered everything from marine mammals to the Arctic Ocean.  Now based in North Carolina, he continues to be involved with an international marine conservation organization and keep up his blog, The Island of Doubt, which is a blog of certainty conceived in a time of uncertainty specifically to contribute to the campaign against irrationality and hesitation.We asked James about his day-to-day task of fusing marine biology and science writing.

Your bio says you began your career at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts, but you served as a public information officer and a science writer.  Was science writing and marine biology always something you mixed since you were young?