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. Humans

    Otters and oil: Problems remain

    The behavior of Alaska's southern sea otters may unwittingly expose them to toxic oil-spill residues.

  2. Chemistry

    Exxon Valdez oil lingers, as does its toxicity

    Even 20 years after a major oil spill, barely degraded pockets of the oil persist within some intertidal beaches, research shows.

  3. Humans

    America’s worst oil disaster still isn’t over

    Impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill linger.

  4. Humans

    Holdren, Lubchenco confirmed for Obama posts

    Another two scientists formally enter the Obama administration.

  5. Humans

    Science reporting: Evolving before our eyes

    Science reporters and scientist bloggers: They're complementary but not interchangable.

  6. Earth

    Vitamin E shields lungs from smog effects

    The "other" vitamin E shows promise in being able to shield the lungs and nasal passages from ozone damage.

  7. Health & Medicine

    Ouch! Way worse than plagiarism

    Featured blog: A doctor's hospital outed him for long-standing fabrication of data in papers that served as the basis for widely respected strategies to manage pain associated with surgery.

  8. Health & Medicine

    Scientists find a soup of suspects while probing milk’s link to cancer

    Latest studies focus on estrogens, androgens and IGF-1.

  9. Health & Medicine

    Bottled water may contain ‘hormones’: Glass

    Some mineral water appears to have been tainted prior to bottling.

  10. Chemistry

    Bottled water may contain ‘hormones’: Plastics

    New concerns arise over the presence of hormonelike pollutants in plastic food packaging.

  11. Humans

    Whiz Kids: Its science and outreach

    The filmmakers behind Whiz Kids would like to see their footage serve an educational purpose, perhaps through some online portal.

  12. Tech

    Whiz Kids: The Movie

    New independent film showcases the arduous path by which extraodinary high school researchers reach the Science Talent Search competition in Washington, D.C.