Vote for Dash!

Hello readers,

I don't usually post this kind of thing on my blog, but today I am making an exception.

I have a little story for you all... A story about how you can win a trip to the Galapagos Islands, help out the endangered Monk Seal and make someone's dream come true, but mostly a story about my good friend Dash.

A couple of years ago, a young lady started coming into the shop quite regularly, and we eventually introduced ourselves and became good friends. We found out that we were neighbors, that we shared a mutual love for all things crafty and that we shared several acquaintances in our small little pocket here on the Midcoast.

That young lady is my friend and neighbor Dash Masland and you may recognize her from her blog, or from this blog post of mine.

Long story short, Dash has an incredible opportunity to do what she loves, and we are both asking for your help and support along the way.

Here, maybe you would like to hear a little bit about Dash from the lady herself:























(Dash holding up a pair of interlock-knit pants at the Liesl Gibson workshop this past November and her "Expedition Granted" logo.)


I am a young M.S. marine scientist from Maine who focuses on studying seal diet through fecal DNA. I received my Master's Degree in Marine Sciences at the University of New England and during my graduate degree I was awarded a young explorer's grant from National Geographic. I was recently selected to be one of two young explorers that Nat Geo is highlighting and having "compete" for a second funding opportunity in a competition called Expedition Granted. They are promoting us via TV and the web and will have the public vote for their favorite explorer. If I win, I will be heading to Hawaii to study the Hawaiian Monk seal, looking at diet by using fecal DNA.


I think you probably know where I am going with this: please, please, please vote for Dash. She's a great gal and a hell of a marine scientist to boot. If I were a Hawaiian Monk seal, there's no one I'd rather have studying my fecal DNA, and that's a fact!

Here's how you can help:

Go to this site and find the "Expedition Granted" tab on the right-hand side, where you can learn more about Dash's project and vote for her!

Also, you can check out Dash's personal website at www.dashmasland.com with lots more great info about Dash and her project.

You can also find Dash on Facebook at this link, and on twitter at this link.

And, here's the deal. You can vote for Dash on the National Geographic site once a day, every day until April 7th and every time you vote you are entered to win a trip to the Galapagos! So cool! So, please vote, vote, vote and vote! You will be helping out a local-girl and upping your chances of winning a trip to the Galapagos Islands.

(Sounds like a win/win to me!)

Thanks so much for any and all votes and for helping to spread the word in any way you can!

XO,

Rhea (and Dash!)