Let's Send Grrl to Antarctica!

I'm a small blog. But I do have readers, and maybe one of them has a big blog? Anyway - You may have heard that Quark Expeditions is going send a blogger to Antarctica on an expedition Feb 20 to Mar 3, all expenses paid. They're running an election on the Internet. One of my favorite bloggers (and a really good person), GrrlScientist, is currently third by less than 30 votes. Very soon now, Quark is going to be emailing everyone who's voted and encouraging them to switch to one of the top 3, which means Grrl has a really good chance to win - if she gets new and switch voters now.

I think she'd be much better than the first place guy, a Portuguese DJ, or the 2nd place guy, Don Osmond (yes, of those Osmonds). Grrl is not only a blogger, she's with ScienceBlogs and she knows how to write. She's been published in Open Lab anthologies (all of them) and also in journals like Nature and Science. She's a scientist - specializing in birds - so she'll bring a professional eye to the place. And she has a gift for finding beauty, and will be able to write about what she sees - for us to read - in wonderful prose that's accurate and accessible. She takes wonderful photos, too. You don't have to take my word for it, you can check out her blog, and read a rather impressive list of endorsements from across the blogosphere - which happens to be her only "sponsor" (unlike the others in the top 5).

Sending Grrl to Antarctica would be a mitzvah for everyone concerned - I know I really, really want to read what she'll write, and see what she'll see. As the Digital Cuttlefish says:

Go, blog for me, and be my eyes
And ears, beneath Antarctic skies,
Where colonies of penguins dwell
(Creating quite a rancid smell).

And you will sit upon the ice
And snow, and blog in words concise
By rugged glaciers, icy shelves,
For us, who can’t be there ourselves.

Go vote! (She's Devorah)