Support Crow Calendar 2015!

I'm a 23-year-old Boston-based science journalist, and every week I compile a calendar of upcoming events at nearby colleges.

That might sound like a small task, but it's not. Between Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, Boston University, Tufts, UMass, the tech firms in Cambridge, the smaller colleges like Suffolk and B.C., the museums, and the local public library systems, science events are happening in the Boston Metro Area all the time.

When the semester is in full swing, an average day has about 20 talks per afternoon.

Many of these academic talks or "brown bag lunches" are free and open to the public. They're a great resource for students and researchers who want to learn more about what's happening in their field, writers who thrive on science story ideas, and for people who just want to learn more about science.

But people often don't go simply because they don't know where the talks are.

When I arrived in Boston, I decided to fix that by compiling a weekly centralized calendar that includes events from all of the major universities plus any museum, library, or professional organization events that sound interesting to me.

Check it out: Boston/Cambridge Science Events (google cal) 

I've been compiling the "Crow Calendar" for almost a year now. I've gotten positive responses from dozens of science journalists and grad students who find the calendar to be an invaluable resource. Plus I've gotten world-class education in molecular biology by sitting in on the talks.

I want to continue the "Crow Calendar", but compiling it takes time. (Often as much as 5-6 hours per week.)

As an early career science journalist, I can't afford to prioritize pro-bono calendar-making over paid assignments.  But as someone who loves learning about science and interacting with scientists, I want to keep it going.

So this is me reaching out to the Boston/Cambridge scientific and journalistic communities: Help me keep this going.

I came up with the $665 target by calculating the amount it would take to cover my internet expenses plus  the snacks I eat while compiling the calendar.

If we reach $665, I promise to keep the calendar going until September (and possibly longer- depending on my grad school obligations). I don't have t-shirts, but I can offer Twitter shout-outs.

I'll also be willing to write one of my notorious "Brown Bag Lunch Recaps" on any talk that a high-rolling donor requests. (And by high-rolling, I mean $50+. I don't wanna sell out my whole blog.)

But really, any support would mean the world to me. Knowing that the time I put into making this calendar is helping my local scientific communities connect with each other is awesome.

Take care, everyone!

-Diana (@CatalyticRxn on Twitter)