Janet Raloff

Janet Raloff

Editor, Digital, Science News Explores

Editor Janet Raloff has been a part of the Science News Media Group since 1977. While a staff writer at Science News, she covered the environment, toxicology, energy, science policy, agriculture and nutrition. She was among the first to give national visibility to such issues as electromagnetic pulse weaponry and hormone-mimicking pollutants, and was the first anywhere to report on the widespread tainting of streams and groundwater sources with pharmaceuticals. A founding board member of the Society of Environmental Journalists, her writing has won awards from groups including the National Association of Science Writers. In July 2007, while still writing for Science News, Janet took over Science News Explores (then known as Science News for Kids) as a part-time responsibility. Over the next six years, she expanded the magazine's depth, breadth and publication cycle. Since 2013, she also oversaw an expansion of its staffing from three part-timers to a full-time staff of four and a freelance staff of some 35 other writers and editors. Before joining Science News, Janet was managing editor of Energy Research Reports (outside Boston), a staff writer at Chemistry (an American Chemical Society magazine) and a writer/editor for Chicago's Adler Planetarium. Initially an astronomy major, she earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University (with an elective major in physics).

All Stories by Janet Raloff

  1. Let’s put the accent on communication

    What I wouldn't have given for English interpreters at some of the sessions of an international meeting in New Orleans today.

  2. Climate

    EPA says greenhouse gases ‘endanger’ health

    Featured blog: New ruling is a likely first step toward federal moves to cut tailpipe emissions of carbon dioxide and more.

  3. Health & Medicine

    Certain carbs boost fat burning

    Smarter breakfasting will help boost the value of exercise.

  4. Health & Medicine

    Coming: Hard tax on soft drinks?

    Some health-policy analysts believe sweetened beverages should be taxed to discourage over-consumption.

  5. Health & Medicine

    Pet-ty injuries

    Pooch underfoot? It's all too common.

  6. Chemistry

    Another type of traffic stress

    Scientists find signs of DNA damage from air pollutants spewed by cars and trucks.

  7. Physics

    Radioactive cigarettes

    Polonium remains an underappreciated factor in the lung-cancer risk posed by cigarettes.

  8. Chemistry

    Leaden blood hikes granny’s heart risks

    Featured blog: Even low concentrations of lead circulating in blood may pose lethal heart risks, a new study finds.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Scary data about bum medical diagnoses

    Doctors' misdiagnoses are frequently misdiagnosed — at least before it's too late.

  10. Ecosystems

    Exxon Valdez: Tidal waters still troubled

    From birds and clams to herring, many species continue to show persistent impacts of an oil spill that occurred two decades ago.

  11. Ecosystems

    Exxon Valdez killed future for some killer whales

    An Alaskan oil spill disrupted family structure in killer-whale groups, with lasting and dramatic repercussions.

  12. Earth

    Exxon Valdez 20 Years Later

    March 24 marked the 20th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The effects are still obvious today. A series of blogs from senior editor Janet Raloff describes the continuing aftermath.