Dear Karen & all,
I think that's an excellent idea. It is appropriate 1st July 2015 also happens to be the fabulous #WormWednesday on Twitter!
https://twitter.com/WPolyDb/status/591000978956005376
Initiated hash tag #InternationalPolychaeteDay
Geoff Read (@WPolyDb)
-----Original Message-----
From: annelida-bounces from oat.bio.indiana.edu [mailto:annelida-bounces from oat.bio.indiana.edu] On Behalf Of Osborn, Karen
Sent: Thursday, 23 April 2015 8:04 a.m.
To: annelida from magpie.bio.indiana.edu
Cc: Craig McClain
Subject: [Annelida] International Polychaete Day
Dear All,
We are still coping with the loss of Kristian here and have been working to find ways to remember him best. We have decided to declare International Polychaete Day and kick it off on 1 July, 2015 with a big public outreach effort. This date would have been Kristian's 80th birthday so it seems an appropriate day to blitz the public with an appreciation for the amazing animals that Kristian loved so much.
I am writing for two reasons - first, to encourage similar efforts at other venues (real and online) and second, to request a few images for use in the Ocean Portal (ocean.si.edu<http://ocean.si.edu>) polychaete slide show that will show the beauty and diversity of the group. At the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History we will host a day of public interactives focused on teaching the public about polychaetes and polychaete research. We will post a story about the diversity and importance of polychaetes on the Ocean Portal (ocean.si.edu<http://ocean.si.edu>), a slide show on the beauty of polychaetes on Smithsonian Science (smithsonianscience.org<http://smithsonianscience.org>), and a biography of Kristian on the Department of Invertebrate Zoology blog (nmnh.typepad.com<http://nmnh.typepad.com>). All of these outreach efforts will be accompanied by social media efforts through the Ocean Portal, Dept. of Invertebrate Zoology, and main NMNH and Smithsonian Public Relations offices. If you can contribute something similar at your institution at any scale or would like to contribute something to this effort to memorialize Kristian's impact on all of us and the study of polychaetes, please let me know so that we can provide links to your efforts. After the event we will provide a summary of all the pieces to Len, the rest of Kristian's family and anyone who participates.
Thank you for your contributions to this fun way of memorializing Kristian,
Karen Osborn and Linda Ward
~~~
Karen Osborn
osbornk from si.edu<mailto:osbornk from si.edu>
202-633-3668
Research Zoologist/Curator
Department of Invertebrate Zoology
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, MRC-163
P.O. Box 37012
Washington, DC 20013-7012 USA
