wbLast week, I had the pleasure of receiving a note from science writer Mary Bates, informing me she had nominated AnimalWise for a Liebster Blog Award.

“Liebster” is a German word meaning dearest, beloved or favorite, and the Liebster Award is sort of a chain letter among bloggers that’s intended to showcase exceptional up-and-coming blogs (typically, those with 200 or fewer followers). Now, there’s no evaluation committee or formal award process for the Liebster, but in a way it’s even nicer – it’s recognition that a peer has noticed and appreciated your hard work.

I want to thank Mary very much for the recognition. Please check out her blog, which – with good reason – has already received the Liebster Award. Mary writes engagingly about biology, psychology, neuroscience, ecology, and all flavors of animal behavior. She earned her PhD from Brown University, where she researched bat echolocation and bullfrog chorusing (admit it, you’re jealous!). While you’re there, be sure to watch the video she’s posted about Li’l Drac, the adorable baby bat; you’ll be adopting your very own fruit bat before long.

Now, the rules for the Liebster Award are:

1. Show thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
2. Reveal your top five picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.
3. Post the award on your blog.
4. Bask in the love from some of the most supportive people on the internet—other writers and artists.
5. And best of all – have fun and spread the karma.

Without further ado, here are my five nominees:

• Endless Forms Most Beautiful: Kimberly Gerson captures and expresses the wonders she sees in the natural world vividly and with grace. Be sure to read about Romeo the wolf and what Kimberly would like you to do if she gets eaten by a polar bear.
• Inkfish: Elizabeth Preston, the editor of MUSE, the award-winning children’s science magazine, stretches out her tentacles to bring you entertaining accounts of offbeat and fascinating new research studies relating to biology, psychology, evolution, physics, economics, and everything in between. Inkfish is playful and fun, but always accurate and true to the underlying science.
• Puff the Mutant Dragon: Mutant Dragon breathes fire and writes exquisitely. The blog wraps together biology, biochemistry and history and toasts them into a delectable treat. If history was never your thing and you’ve always avoided chemical equations, I especially invite you to dig in – I think you just may find that you’ve found a new favorite cuisine!
• Popperfont: David Ng, a molecular geneticist and member of the faculty at the University of British Columbia, has created Popperfont, an eclectic mix of scientific trivia, quotations, graphics, comics, stories and other assorted gems. Stop by Popperfont whenever you’re in the mood for some science fun and fascination.
• Empirical Zeal: Aatish Bhatia, a Rutgers University grad student, shares his excitement regarding breakthroughs in diverse areas of science, including evolutionary biology, genetics, neuroscience and physics. Empirical Zeal is what great science blogging is all about: wonderful writing that makes technical topics understandable, accessible and exciting. Visit Empirical Zeal and you’ll see what I mean.

So thanks again to Mary, and I hope you enjoy the five nominee blogs as much as I do!