by Janice Nigro I’m not sick and I hope the dreaded coronavirus (or any other disease) is not currently taking up residence inside your body. I’m not enjoying this particular period of time in American history for many reasons. But there’s another way to look at all of this. It’s as if the whole world... Continue Reading →
The artist in you: Water&Wood 2019
by Janice Nigro I have been living in Southern California for several years now. I know, I hear a collective “aww” it can’t be that hard to live here-sun, palm trees, and the ocean wilderness right there in front of me. But you always give something up to get something else. In my case, I... Continue Reading →
Taking French lessons in Indonesia
by Janice Nigro I took a last-minute trip to an island in Indonesia I had never been to in September. I don't know how a person can do that, but I did. Cheaper fares if you fly through Hong Kong when it's typhoon season, helped maybe. I even bought a new underwater camera rig before... Continue Reading →
Elements of the travel story buried in an education in science
by Janice Nigro When I started to write this piece, I thought, I have no idea why travel writing comes so naturally to me. I just thought, it’s like anything, when you want to do it, you actually do it. Still when you do something right, the first thing people want to know, is how... Continue Reading →
How I got my first byline in a major media outlet
A PhD in biology isn't the direct route to becoming a travel writer, but my wish to be paid for a travel story recently came true. Not only was it my first paid travel article, but it was also my first byline in a major media outlet. “How did you get your article into the... Continue Reading →
Why did this get published?
by Janice Nigro Good question. I too wonder how my travel story ended up in the LA Times. It did and one thing for sure, it’s easier for me to say, “I am a writer” when people ask. There it is, the proof in print. But with visibility like that comes comments like that (although... Continue Reading →
An Accidental Artist: Discovering Creativity through Scuba Diving
Do you think of artists as super-powered people? I did until I discovered underwater photography. Discovering my artistic side I tend to think of as a glorious accident, but I wonder, because underwater photography has all the elements that are important to me: travel, sport, art, and science. An Accidental Artist is a collection of... Continue Reading →
Purpose, Methods, Results…repeat
by Janice Nigro We wonder in grade school what the point of such exercises is. Writing up lab reports, writing up our interpretation of a story or a poem. But “purpose, methods, results” is ultimately the basis of everything we do. Although sometimes we only see the pattern when we look back. I am a... Continue Reading →
it’s not what you think
it's not what you think by Janice Nigro Dreams have a funny way of incorporating events in real time with subconscious ones. A scientist friend once told me she was dreaming about making vats of a sulfur-smelling chemical solution that is commonly used in biological experiments (dithiothreitol if you are a biologist). When she woke... Continue Reading →