SQUIRRELS: China's Internet community promoting science COURTESY PHOTO

Squirrel beginnings

Ji Shisan, Science Squirrels' founder, graduated with a Ph.D in neurobiology in 2007, a task that took 11 years to complete. But, a longtime lover of writing, he moved away from his future career as a scientist and began freelance writing science columns for different media outlets.  

"Scientific research requires one to dive into a certain subject in depth, while science-related communication involves wide knowledge. I think I like that more," Ji says of his career move.

When Ji decided to set up the Science Squirrels Club, his idea was simple: "Authors of science articles work separately, and I wanted to build a platform that would connect them together." Ji was not the only person trying to reach a tricky balance between rigorous scientific research and mainstream accessibility. When he started sending out author requests in 2008, the responses flooded in. Since then, the group has grown at an amazing speed. "Sometimes I feel as if those people are hiding in a big house," Ji writes in a blog post, explaining the phenomenon. "They surface from different corners when I call them to dinner."

Juzi was one of the club's first members to join. At the time, she was working toward a Ph.D in cytology in the United States. She joined the group to kill time between courses, but found herself obsessed with the Squirrels' community. After she graduated, the scientist-to-be bought a plane ticket to Beijing, leaving behind a decade of life lived in a lab. The day after she arrived, she walked straight into the club's headquarters and became a full-time employee.

"The group gives me a sense of belonging," she says. "It's a totally different feeling from what I get through doing research. You can always get feedback. You know that you have readers, and they like what you write."