What is ScienceCrossroads?

I’m Clinton Colmenares. During the day (most days) I’m a PIO at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

I created ScienceCrossroads — with a lot of help from my friends — in response to the continual pruning of science reporters by the mainstream media. The local papers aren’t covering stories, but someone should. The average consumer needs to know that science is important, relevant and worth supporting.

There are a lot of science-news threads, some good, many not-so-good. ScienceCrossroads is an attempt to weave some of the excellent threads together.

The material comes mostly from universities because, a.) that’s the world I know, b.) most of the science in this country is carried out in academic settings, supported by your tax dollars, and c.) academe hasn’t been very sharp about collaborating to support a common cause.  But science news from foundations and other non-profits also has a place.

The site isn’t intended to promote one university over another. It’s intended to promote science. PIOs everywhere are encouraged to post science news. For now, while this is still an experiment, I’ll even post news from various schools not affiliated with my employer. The standard begins and ends with news value.

Other contributors so far include Karl Bates from Duke, Becky Oskin, freelance writer extraordinaire, Melanie Moran and David Salisbury from Vanderbilt, and Terry Devitt and Jill Sakai at U Wisconsin.  Please, join us.

Contact me at sciencecrossroads@gmail.com.