I know my prior introduction was hardly on the verbose side, so I'm going to take this opportunity to introduce myself a bit more in-depth. Instead of running off a few dense paragraphs of text, I figured I'd break it down into a FAQ of sorts. I guess I've always wanted a FAQ about myself, and this is my chance, so by golly I'm going to take it! And yes, it won't be half as exciting/interesting as Psycasm's introduction.

1. Is your name really Thomas Joseph?

For the intents and purposes of this blog, yes. Would I answer to it if it was shouted out in public? Probably not.

2. Why did you come to LabSpaces?

As some of you may or may not know, I have a blog of the same name over at Blogger. I'd like to think that as a stand-alone, amateur blogger I did fairly well for myself. Obviously blogging at LabSpaces gives me a much larger platform from which I can blather from. I think it's going to be a challenge. LabSpaces is going to give me more traffic, which should increase the peer-reviewing of my thoughts/words. I'm taking it as an opportunity to grow and I'm very excited about it.

3. What will your blog primarily be about?

Well, I'm a microbiologist by trade, and molecular biology is my primary tool. I started in medical microbiology (transcriptional regulation) which is the area in which I earned my Ph.D. but I eventually found myself doing microbiology of the agricultural, environmental, and soil bent. Nowadays I do a lot of microbial ecology, genomics, and even some bio-energy work as well. Given the wide areas I've dabbled in, I'll probably discuss all of those topics at some point. Also, since I do a lot of ecological work, I'll talk about biodiversity and ecology issues. Of course, you can also expect a lot of stories relying purely on anecdotal evidence, sports talk, music, and whatever else strikes my fancy. It is my blog after all.

4. What is your science training?

As I mentioned, I am trained as a microbiologist and molecular biologist. I originally started out as a Medical Technologist (still pay my dues to the Board of Registry for the American Society of Clinical Pathologists) and have two degrees in that field. A lot of what goes on in the clinical lab is automated, and at the time microbiology was one of the few disciplines which was not. The clinical microbiologist was a detective. Given few clues (site of isolation, specimen received, potential symptoms) the microbiologist then set about determining what the patient suffered from using their training and various tools of the trade (selective agars, Gram staining/microscopes, candle jars, antibiotics, etc). It was super exciting, and totally hands on. I fell in love with it and decided to continue on with my Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology. I hope to blog more on my experiences as a Medical Technologist.

5. When did you start blogging?

I first started blogging in the early 2000's but didn't start science blogging until the end of 2006. That is when I started this blog. I've been steadily putting my two cents into the blogosphere ever since then (picked up the pace in earnest in 2008). Of course, I don't imagine much of it has been even been noticed, but then that's part of why I moved here.

6. What do you do on your free time?

When I'm not doing work, I'm off doing any number of things. I am an amateur astronomer and I can often be found at the local observatory star gazing, or volunteering on any available projects. I also am a part of the local astronomy club and have given a couple of lectures on exobiology to the group. I have an extreme interest in extremophiles, and as such extremophiles and exobiology really go hand in hand. I'm also an avid racquetball player and play as often as I can. I also own quite the collection of videogames and have systems ranging from ColecoVision, the doomed 3DO, PS, PS2, and Wii. A PS360 is on my wishlist, I just need to make up my mind on which one. I love to read, mostly books in the fantasy, sci-fi area. I also have any number of scientific books which I delve into on occasion (see my upcoming Reading List page). I also have a couple of dogs, and they do a pretty good job of keeping me busy as well.

7. Why should I bother to read your blog?

Because. Well, I hope to fill this blog with some topics which will interest people other than myself. I admit that I probably won't blog on things that I don't personally find interesting or view as important (or are told to blog on specifically). I mean, if there are people who regularly blog on things that they don't want to cover I'd say they're crazy. I'd like to think I'm my own sort of non-crazy so you won't find me doing such things. So, if you find what I blog on interesting, then I think you should bother to read my blog. If you don't, I imagine you won't come back.

I suppose that wraps up my formal introduction. There are probably details I've left out and wanted to add, but in the scheme of things I doubt it really matters all that much. There will be plenty of time for people to get to know me, and vice versa. I hope you enjoy your visits here, just as I will enjoy posting.