************************************* VOLCANO WEBSITE GARNERS TOP HONORS FOR 2006 From: Shaun Hardy <hardy@xxxxxxxxxxx> ************************************* The Hero of Vesuvius, a website about the life and pioneering work of American volcanologist Frank Alvord Perret, garnered top honors recently at the Geoscience Information Society's annual meeting in Philadelphia. The richly- illustrated site, developed by science writer Tom Gidwitz of South Dartmouth, Massachusetts in conjunction with web designer Tucker Hood, received the 2006 Best Website Award from a selection committee composed of earth science librarians and information professionals. "Deeply researched, informative, well-written and illustrated, and simply but elegantly designed; it is a gem," commented Lee Regan of the site, which offers visitors a vivid portrayal of the exciting and often dangerous study of volcanoes in the early 20th Century. The Society's reviewers praised the site's unique and creative ways of displaying images and maps, such as its "floating scrapbook" feature. A Stanford-educated journalist, Gidwitz has been writing about scientists and their research for over ten years. He is a contributing editor for Archaeology magazine and the author of The Story in the Stone, a children's book about the Smithsonian Institution's Panama Paleontology Project, which examines how fossils are teaching scientists how plate tectonics built the Isthmus of Panama. He previously served as editor of Currents, the members' quarterly magazine of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. In accepting the award, Gidwitz stated of his work: "My objective has been to make technically difficult subjects understandable and absorbing to lay readers, and to shed light on what drives these men and women to tenaciously pursue the mysteries of their field." The Hero of Vesuvius is online at www.vesuvius.tomgidwitz.com. _________________________________ Shaun J. Hardy Publicity Officer Geoscience Information Society c/o American Geological Institute 4220 King Street Alexandria, VA 22302-1502 tel 202-478-7960, fax 202-478-7971 e-mail hardy@xxxxxxxxxxx ============================================================== To unsubscribe from the volcano list, send the message: signoff volcano to: listserv@xxxxxxx, or write to: volcano-request@xxxxxxxx To contribute to the volcano list, send your message to: volcano@xxxxxxxx Please do not send attachments. ==============================================================
