The 3QD Science Prize winners were announced this morning, and I’m so happy that a post by my dear friend SciCurious has been selected as Top Quark by Lisa Randall!  CONGRATS SCI!

The winners are:

1.  Top Quark, $1000: SciCurious, Serotonin and Sexual Preference: Is It Really That Simple?
2.  Strange Quark, $300: Anne Jefferson, Levees and the Illusion of Flood Control
3.  Charm Quark, $100: Sean Carroll, The Fine Structure Constant is Probably Constant
3.  Charm Quark, $100: Ethan Siegel, Where Is Everybody?

You can read what Lisa Randall has to say about her selections here, as well as her take on the service that science blogging provides and how blogging differs from traditional science journalism.  Congrats to all the winners!

I am proud to announce that my post “Prehistoric Clues Provide Insight into Climate’s Future Impact on Oceans” has been selected by the 3QD editors as a finalist in the 3QD Science Prize!

My post was one of six finalists chosen from the semifinalists, and 3 wildcard entries were added.  The posts from the 9 finalists are:

1. Cosmic Variance: The Fine Structure Constant is Probably Constant
2. Dr. Carin Bondar: Sacrifice on the Serengeti
3. Empirical Zeal: Blind Fish in Dark Caves Shed Light on the Evolution of Sleep
4. Highly Allochthonous: Levees and the Illusion of Flood Control
5. Laelaps: The Pelican’s Beak – Success and Evolutionary Stasis
6. Oh, For the Love of Science: Prehistoric Clues Provide Insight into Climate’s Future Impact on Oceans
7. Opinionator: Morals Without God?
8. Scientific American Guest Blog: Seratonin and Sexual Preference: Is It Really That Simple?
9. Starts With A Bang: Where Is Everybody?

Now it is up to Lisa Randall to select the winners for Top Quark, Strange Quark and Charm Quark.

The winners will be announced on 3 Quarks Daily on or around June 21, 2011.  Stay tuned, and wish me luck!

I’d like to give a big thank you to everyone who voted for my article “Prehistoric Clues Provide Insight into Climate’s Future Impact on Oceans“ and made it the 9th most-voted for post out of the 87 entries in the 3 Quarks Daily Science Prize.

Now it is up to the 3QD editors to choose 6 finalists (with the option to add 3 wildcards), from which Lisa Randall will choose the Top Quark, Strange Quark, and Charm Quark awards.

For a full list of the semifinalists click here. Congratulations to my fellow semifinalists!

The 3 Quarks Daily Science Prize is back for the third year, and yours truly has 2 posts in the running:

• Bufotoxin Tolerance in Keelback Snakes: Recent Adaptation to a New Threat, or Preadaptation From An Ancient Foe?
• Prehistoric Clues Provide Insight into Climate’s Future Impact on Oceans

There are 87 entries total, each vying for a spot among the 20 semi-finalists which are selected by popular vote.  If you like my writing, be sure to go vote for one of my posts!

While interning at the USGS this summer, I assisted with an article for the DOI Ocean, Coastal and Great Lakes newsletter on protected areas.  Since it’s National Park Week, it seemed fitting to share some of the things I learned, and today was the perfect day to do so in light of one of the dates shared below.

First National Park

Determining which park gets the notoriety of the first national park is a bit tricky. Today is the 179th anniversary of the day on which what is now Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas was established as a reservation by an act of Congress. It was not designated as a National Park until 4 Mar 1921.  Hot Springs is the nation’s oldest national park, though not the first to carry the “National Park” designation.  In 1872, President Grant and Congress established Yellowstone National Park as America’s first national park. Located in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, Yellowstone was set aside as “a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.”  Technically, it was the first to be declared a National Park, but it’s not the oldest.

First National Seashore

The broad expanse of coastal dunes and beaches situated on the eastern outskirts of North Carolina’s Atlantic coastline known as Cape Hatteras National Seashore was authorized by Congress on August 17, 1937, and established on January 12, 1953.

Biggest National Park

Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park stretches for 13.2 million acres along southeastern Alaska and into Canada.

Park with the Lowest Elevation

Death Valley National Park has the lowest elevation, at -282 feet below sea level. http://www.nps.gov/deva/naturescience/lowest-places-on-earth.htm

Home to the Most Threatened Species

Haleakala National Park on the island of Kahului in Hawaii is inhabited by 36 endangered species, from the Hawaiian goose and crested honeycreeper (both birds) to the Hawaiian monk seal and Hawaiian hoary bat.        http://www.nature.nps.gov/biology/endangeredspecies/speciesdatabase.cfm

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