VOA标准英语2011--Science Blogger Targets Inner City Youth

Science Blogger Targets Inner City Youth

Some blogs function as personal online diaries, while others provide commentary¹ or news on a particular subject.
Scientist Danielle Lee's blogging mission is a little different. She hopes to foster² an interest in science among young people in inner-city communities.
Different audience
Lee, who blogs for what she calls “the underrepresented,” believes being African-American helps her reach a different audience than most science bloggers.
“I’m really good at helping³ people find their on-ramp to science and I enjoy that. And I think that has to do with my personal interest in working with kind of the least-likely candidate students, because I myself was a least-likely candidate student.”
She believes African-Americans - and inner city youth in general - face many educational barriers.
“You may be encouraged to go to school, but you’re not given a lot of direction as to how to pursue particular careers, particularly in science and engineering," Lee says. "There aren’t a lot of role models. So that’s why I do my outreach, to let folks see one, a different face of science and to see different avenues into science.”
Getting started
Lee started blogging about science in 2006, while pursuing her doctorate⁴ in animal behavior at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
In her blog, "Urban Science Adventures," Lee uses text and photographs to explain what she calls “science you can see right outside your back door,” even if you live in the city.
“I focus on urban ecology and all those different ways to access environmental science, conservation and biology," Lee says, "but through accessible, you know, wildlife watching in your neighborhood parks or backyard.”
Lee says her blog entries often grow out of conversations with friends. She recently received a text message asking her to identify an animal based on a photograph of its feces.
“And I was like, ‘Are those berries?’ And they’re like, ‘I think so.’ I said, ‘Well, take the picture again next to a ruler or something for scale.'”
After a little more investigating, she figured out the scat sample belonged to a raccoon. Lee finds being a scientist is a lot like being a detective.
“I tell people that all the time, it’s exactly what science is," says Lee. "You get to answer all your own questions, and figure things out, yeah!”

1 commentary   

n.评论，评注；实况广播报导，现场口头评述

参考例句：

• He is giving the commentary on the basketball game.他正在对篮球赛作评论。
• His running commentary on the football match was excellent.他对这次足球赛所作的实况报道十分精彩。

2 foster   

vt.收养，培养，促进；adj.收养的，收养孩子的

参考例句：

• Nowadays young couple sometimes foster.现今年轻夫妇有时领养别人的孩子。
• The captain did his best to foster a sense of unity among the new recruits.队长尽力培养新成员之间的团结精神。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 doctorate   

n.(大学授予的)博士学位

参考例句：

• He hasn't enough credits to get his doctorate.他的学分不够取得博士学位。
• Where did she do her doctorate?她在哪里攻读博士？