Most of the fundamental ideas of science are essentially simple, and may, as a rule, be expressed in a language comprehensible to everyone.
- A. Einstein

Keeping fish in aquaria is a widespread hobby throughout the world. Along with the fascination for the sheer diversity of fishes often comes a profound interest in fish biology and the ecology of natural habitats. Many hobbyists acquire detailed knowledge about their fishes' behavior, ecology, and evolution, even though scientific publications are often hard to find and written in a technical fashion that is difficult to understand for a lay audience. "Fish Chum" attempts to bring together fish hobbyists with scientists researching fish biology in order to spread recent scientific findings in a language comprehensible to everybody. In the process, we hope to not only raise awareness about current topics in fish biology and conservation, but to also educate the broad public about the value and procedures of behavior, ecology, and evolution research, and the scientific method in general.

"Fish Chum" feeds off direct contributions from scientists. Graduate students, Postdocs, and Senior Scientists are encouraged to submit lay summaries of recent research papers and travel logs detailing the natural habitats they are investigating. At the same time, "Fish Chum" tries to establish a dialogue by soliciting questions by hobbyists that are answered by specialists in the field. That way scientists will have an opportunity to showcase their research to a wider audience that has a keen interest in the subject area. We hope that "Fish Chum" will develop into an interactive platform fostering communication between scientists and hobbyists that share a profound curiosity about fish diversity.

Finally, "Fish Chum" also tries to reinforce the long standing effort of hobbyist organizations to fund and disseminate graduate student research on fish biology by highlighting specific funding opportunities.

So long (and thanks for all the fish), the "Fish Chum" team