Clusty.com

In a previous class lecture, it was suggested that we may wish to utilize the search engine Clusty.com to find further information on our scientists. For exploration of this tool I simply inserted "Monica Medina" in the search box. This retrieved approximately 194 results. Using the "cluster" option in the side bar, I quickly narrowed it down to 19 results by clicking the link of "Merced, Sciences" which appeared to be the most relevant. This led me to many resources I had previously discovered on my own, however, I discovered that Dr. Medina is associated with the UC Merced Computational BiologyJournal Club . Their mission is to:

• "Raise awareness of current content in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Comparative and Functional Genetics and Genomics, Systems Biology, and Molecular Evolution.

• Sharpen critical assessment of the scientific literature and the scientific it mediates.

• Familiarize with the people, groups and societies having an impact in Computational Biology and allied fields.

• Broaden and deepen biological knowledge.

• Provide a community of support for the scientific aims of its participants. "

Interestingly the club's site offers a list of journal titles that they subscribe to, many of which Dr. Medina utilizes for her own publications and research. I feel that this is strong evidence that this is an important source of information and resources for Dr. Medina. Further results within Clusty.com offered some support for a hunch I had that organizations financing her research may also provide her with places for networking with other individuals, another personal and interactive source of information for her. According to her lab's website, her funding sources include: The National Science Foundation (with which it was found, with assistance from Clusty.com, that she is involved in an Geoscience Outreach Workshop), The Department of Energy, UC MexUS-CONACYT, and the International Census of Marine Microbes. Also within the Clusty.com results, a full slide show of a presentation she gave at a conference in Dec. 2004 entitled "Systematics and the Origin of Species. On Ernst Mayr's 100th Anniversary". Her presentation was entitled "Genomes and Phylogeny". Also the search results led me to discover that she is involved with a research project tied to the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Lastly, the Clusty search offered me an article in a UC Merced newsletter that reports "Medina has maintained ties with her former employer, the nearby Joint Genome Institute at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and is participating in developing the UC Merced Genome Center, a donor-funded core lab featuring the microarray and sequencing equipment she will need" ("Professor pursues marine invertebrate evolution studies." (2006). Panorama UC Merced 2(5). Retrieved February 20, 2009, from http://panorama.ucmerced.edu/panorama_03012006/pages/medina.htm).

This search offered insight into where Dr. Medina may exchange information and ideas with her colluegues in a face-to-face environment.