[Coral-List] public interaction and grassroots advocacy

[Michael Lombardi]

Dear fellow researchers,
 
Given the recent discussions about 'what we can do' as the coral
community to better advocate the correct information to the public, an
opportunity has arisen. ScubaBoard.com, an online forum for the diving
community, has expressed interest in creating a forum for discussing
issues in marine science. The idea would be that a member of the general
public would post a question, answers would be provided by a member of
the science community, and researchers would likewise be able to
generate discussion. This would prove to be an ideal grassroots means to
bridge the communication gap between researcher and the public, as there
is already a captive audience (those who actually appreciate all things
underwater). Scubaboard.com has over 87,000 registered users with about
a million unique visitors every month. That exceeds the combined
circulation of all of the printed media for the dive industry. The forum
would also provide free advertising for non-profit marine projects or
institutions as a means to generate web traffic to promote and fundraise
for projects.
 
Thoughts and discussion on this list are appreciated. I'll be collating
a list on behalf of Scuboard for those that might be interested in
assisting to kick off this forum. Those that might be specifically
interested in participating can contact me directly at
explore at oceanopportunity.com ; please provide your position and
affiliation, geographical region of study, and a brief sentence or two o
your research interests.
 
With about 10 folks initially interested in contributing 10 minutes or
so a week participating in the forum, this will be a worthwhile
undertaking for Scubaboard to promote to their subscribers.
 
Regards
Mike
 
Michael Lombardi
www.oceanopportunity.com