Los Angeles freelance science writer and editor
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 →
by Janice Nigro I have adventures, but I don’t think they are anything to really boast about today. With the Internet and diverse forms of modern day transport, it’s easy to get out. But making adventures happen when you are home takes a different kind of effort. It helps that I now live only about... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro Stony corals fool us. We see only a big mountain of what appears to be lifeless rock before us, when in fact the mountain of rock is growing daily (in healthy reefs) due to the hard work of the macro animals and their algal symbionts, zooxanthellae, living inside. Scientists have long known... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro Summer, sommer, l’estate…It’s a poetic word in most languages in most hemispheres summoning up the best of memories from childhood. For me, my memories are of spending all day at the swimming pool, Good Humor bars, and my birthday. As an adult, summer has become the season for art festivals. I have... Continue Reading →
by Janice Nigro We travel to escape. To escape our work, to escape our lives, and maybe to escape who we are. I would be the first to admit to trying things on holidays that I would never attempt back home. There is ample opportunity; real gelato can only be eaten in Italy. But also no one is there... Continue Reading →
That’s an animal? by Janice Nigro There is still debate about where (and how) life began, on land or in the sea? Wherever it started, it feels as if the process is still taking place underwater. Evolution seems to be actively at work in the sea, making seemingly bad experiments into ones that produce results. You have... Continue Reading →
What we don’t think about when planning a dive trip by Janice Nigro A lot of information sometimes goes into choosing a dive trip. What season is it? Is it good for whale sharks, humpback whales, grouper mating, coral spawning? What is the weather going to be like? rain? typhoon? Water temperature? (OK, I am... Continue Reading →
Off maps.google.com in Aljui Bay by Janice Nigro I had thought that in Raja Ampat further south in Misool was something like the soft coral and color factory of the world. I discovered on a recent liveaboard trip that Aljui Bay in northern Raja Ampat was serious competition…and with no other boats (yeah, try to... Continue Reading →
Finding critters “by accident” at Papua Paradise Eco Resort by Janice Nigro Even after five flights (three international and two domestic) and a 1.5 hour boat ride, we managed to be up at the right time for the first day of dives at Papua Paradise Eco Resort in raja Ampat. But our first glimpse into... Continue Reading →
Anemone shrimp in a beautiful magnificent anemone in raja Ampat, Indonesia. the shrimp jump around on the anemone shrimp like stringed puppets. They look like they are having so much fun, but they are not so easy to photograph.
Janice Nigro 