New Weblog Editor Issues Command “Let 1000 flowers bloom – and photograph them for Instagram”

There’s a change of personnel at AoB Blog. We sadly say goodbye to Alan Cann, our Internet Consulting Editor. You can still follow him at MicrobiologyBytes. It’s no exaggeration to say that without his work and enthusiasm there simply wouldn’t be an AoB Blog.

Coming in as Weblog Editor we have Anne Osterrieder, of Oxford Brookes University. Social media mavens may recognise the name as the author of The value and use of social media as communication tool in the plant sciences. Currently (May 2016) it’s one of the top 5% papers on Altmetric. Anne has said she’s looking forward to taking on the role, saying: “My first goal is to increase the cake and coffee budget.”

When she realised this was being recorded for a blog post here she added: “AoB Blog is one of the most innovative science journal online presences out there. It always has been one of the first to trial new technologies and online communication tools, and evaluate their impact. I am very excited to join its team, and help it grow and branch out into the virtual space (using as many Botany puns as possible).

“I strongly feel that we are pushing the frontiers of how scientists, and academic journals, communicate research online. Even though ‘blogs’ have now been around for quite some time (15 years?!), they are still regarded as a new thing in academia, and too often viewed with suspicion. I see AoB Blog as a platform where scientists at all stages of their careers can have a go at ‘that blogging thing’, and maybe even find inspiration to grow their own online presence.”

Online presence is the key phrase as, we’re not just thinking about text. In addition to the blog we’re still looking at whether a podcast of some sort or a video presence would be viable.

Anyone wishing to sending comments, complaints or cakes to the new editor can use our contact form, or tweet her at @AnneOsterrieder.