I am a 24-year-old with an M.S. in science journalism from Boston University . I am originally from New York City – Staten Island specifically. I attended Stuyvesant High School in Manhattan and went to college at Sarah Lawrence in Westchester where I concentrated in biology and science education. I have interned at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Smithsonian Magazine, and am staff writer for KnowAtom, LLC–a Salem-based science education company.
My science writing heroes are Andrew Revkin, Carl Zimmer, Chris Mooney, Diana Kenney, Terence Monmaney and Phil Hilts. My favorite magazines are SEED, Wired, Smithsonian, Science and The New Yorker. My background is in the life sciences, although I do dabble in the other subjects. I particularly like stories that blur the lines between science, society and policy.
I am currently a freelance science writer based in Salem, Massachusetts. I am happy to take on a variety of assignments. Examples of my writing are listed below. E-mail me at jcaputo@sciencemetropolis.com.
Print/Web Clips:
1/25/10 – “Residential Fires Can Turn Deadly Quickly” ~ Book of Odds
1/13/10 – “Mississippi: Capital of cardiovascular disease” ~ Book of Odds
12/2/09 – “The Odds of Capturing America’s Most Wanted” ~ Book of Odds
11/24/09 – “The Turkey’s Revenge: House fires are twice as likely on Thanksgiving” ~ Book of Odds
11/20/09 – “Everyday Hazards: Cotton Swabs” ~ Book of Odds
10/19/09 – “When it Comes to Luggage, All is Not Lost” ~ Book of Odds
10/16/09 – “Is Your Last Name Unique?” ~Book of Odds
10/14/09 – “‘Morning’ vs. ‘Night’ people: What’s behind the difference?” ~ Book of Odds
10/14/09 – “When dreams come true–complete with vampires” ~ Book of Odds
10/14/09 – “Elevator Accidents” ~ Book of Odds
10/8/09 – “Capturing Lightening ‘Fossils’” ~ LiveScience.com
8/1/09 – ” Q and A: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Moon: Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, reflects on the Apollo 11 mission” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
8/1/09 – “Wild Things: Avian Warning System” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
8/1/09 – “What’s Up: At the Smithsonian” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
7/17/09 – ” Stopping Sharks by Blasting Their Senses: Chemist and businessman Eric Stroud develops shark repellents to protect sharks from being ensnared in commercial fisheries” ~ Smithsonian.com
7/8/09 – “50 Years of Pantyhose: Love them or hate them, the once-ubiquitous women’s accessory was a revolutionary invention that helped transform women’s fashion” ~ Smithsonian.com
7/1/09 – “Wild Things: Comeback Trail” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
7/1/09 – “What’s Up: At the Smithsonian” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
6/23/09 – “An Artistic Dialogue at the African Art Museum: Two African artists discuss the creative process when they held a conversation between each other through their art” ~ Smithsonian.com
6/1/09 – “Wild Things: Rise of the Octopus” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
6/1/09 – “What’s Up: At the Smithsonian” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
5/6/09 – “The Hubble Space Telescope’s Finest Photos: This May, astronauts are scheduled to install the Hubble’s final upgrades, 19 years after it first captured images of the universe” ~ Smithsonian.com
5/4/09 – “Five Movies That Memorably Feature Museums: The ‘Night at the Museum’ films aren’t the only films that take place largely in the confines of a museum” ~ Smithsonian.com
5/1/09 – “Jukebox: Pete Seeger is still singing the ballads that popularized folk music and transformed the genre into a call for action” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
5/1/09 – “Wild Things: Young Dinosaurs Joined Gangs” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
5/1/09 – “Destination America: Hightlights and Hotspots” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
5/1/09 – “What’s Up: At the Smithsonian” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
Spring 2009 – “How To Listen” ~ Sarah Lawrence Magazine
4/24/09 – “Hollywood on Exhibit: Movie memories come to life inside the filmmaking collections of these seven museums” ~ Smithsonian.com
4/8/09 – “Feeding the Animals at the National Zoo: After hiring the first animal nutritionist 30 years ago, the National Zoo prepares specific, well-balanced meals for each animal” ~ Smithsonian.com
4/1/09 – “A Fish Tale: A curator discovers that whalefishes, bignose fishes and tapetails are all really the same kind of fish at different life stages” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
4/1/09 – “Q and A: Isaac Mizrahi: Fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi’s salmon skin dress is on display in a new exhibit at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
4/1/09 – “Wild Things: How Fish Recycle” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
4/1/09 – “Jukebox: Odes to Joy” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
4/1/09 – “What’s Up (at the Smithsonian)” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
3/13/09 – “Unusual St. Patrick’s Day Celebrations: Leprechauns and green shamrocks are only a small part of celebrating St. Patrick’s Day for Irish communities around the world” ~Smithsonian.com
3/1/09 – “Solving a 17th-Century Crime: Forensic anthropologists at the National Museum of Natural History find answers to a colonial cold case” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
3/1/09 – “Still Life Explosions: Artist Ori Gersht details the beauty and violence behind his works” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
3/1/09 – “Naming a New Species: Smithsonian naturalist Brian Schmidt gave a new species of African bird an interesting scientific name” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
3/1/09 – “Wild Things: Mosquito Love Duet” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
3/1/09 – “Jukebox: Sing Like a Pirate” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
3/1/09 – “What’s Up: Exhibits from the National Museum of Natural History, National Portrait Gallery, National Postal Museum, Freer Gallery of Art and the Renwick Gallery” ~ Smithsonian Magazine
2/27/09 – “Can Wind Power Be Wildlife Friendly: As birds and bats migrate along windy mountain ridges-the same ridges that are optimum sites for wind turbines–new research aims to stop turbines from killing animals” ~ Smithsonian.com
Fall 2008 – “Intelligent Design” ~ Sarah Lawrence College Magazine
9/18/08 – “The Power of Self-Healing: MBL Visiting Researcher Explores Wound Repair in the Comb Jelly” ~ Marine Biological Laboratory
9/17/08 – “Do Early-Life Seizures Have Lasting Effects? Grass Fellow Joaquin Lugo Uses Zebrafish to Study Epilepsy” ~ Marine Biological Laboratory
8/29/08 – “Perfect Cape Cod Summer For Lion’s Mane Jellyfish ” ~ Falmouth Enterprise
8/13/08 – “Green Hotels: Lodging industry balancing customers and the environment” ~ Worcester Telegram and Gazette
8/13/08 – “Plastics Suspect in Lobster Illness” ~ Marine Biological Laboratory, press release
8/11/08 – “LabBits August 2008: Invasion of the Comb Jellies/With Skate Eyes, Scientists Peer Into Human Disease/Managing the Conch Fishery” ~ Marine Biological Laboratory, press release
8/8/08 – “Scientific World Opens Up Online At MBLWHOI Library” ~ Falmouth Enterprise
7/24/08 – “Fly Research Takes Off With High Speed Video” ~ Marine Biological Laboratory
7/24/08 – “MBLWHOI Library Develops Taxonomy Toy” ~ Marine Biological Laboratory
7/23/08 – “LabBits July 2008: What Do Squid Hear/Lost An Appendage? Grow Another/Cellular Symmetry” ~ Marine Biological Laboratory, press release
7/17/08 – “When Fish Talk, Scientists Listen” ~ Marine Biological Laboratory, press release
6/25/08 ” Genomics of Large Marine Animals Showcased in The Biological Bulletin” ~ Marine Biological Laboratory, press release
6/20/08 – “Second Sight: Grass Fellow Shines (Polarized) Light on Honeybee Controversy” ~ Marine Biological Laboratory
Fall 2007 – “Environment Revealed” ~ Sarah Lawrence Magazine
6/6/07- “Research Group Breaks New Ground in Fish Neurobiology” ~ Sarah Lawrence College
Spring 2007 – “Family History Lesson” ~ Sarah Lawrence Magazine
Spring 2007 – “Chemist Finds Current Climate Change Models Should Bite the Dust” ~ The All I Need
Fall 2006 – “Proof: Or a mathematician shows you how you do math all the time without even knowing it, to achieve certain outcomes and keep your life in order” ~ Sarah Lawrence Magazine
Blogging (Selected):
7/6/09 – “The ‘Art’ of Storytelling” ~ Around the Mall
7/1/09 – “Artful Animals Opens at National Museum of African Art” ~ Around the Mall
6/29/09 – “Illegal Giant Beetles Come to the Smithsonian” ~ Around the Mall
6/26/09 – “National Air and Space Museum Cameos in Transformers Sequel” ~ Around the Mall
6/25/09 – “Smithsonian Marks Anniversary of Stonewall Riots” ~ Around the Mall
6/8/09 – “Scott Solomon is “The Ant Hunter” ~ Around the Mall
6/3/09 – “Will Oysters Survive Ocean Acidification? Depends on the Oyster” ~Around the Mall
6/2/09 – “Walead Beshty at the Hirshhorn – Abstract Art or Photography?” ~ Around the Mall
6/1/09 – “Design-Your-Life.org with Curator Ellen Lupton” ~ Around the Mall
5/29/09 – “Space Monkey Able Celebrates Space Flight’s 50th Anniversary” ~ Around the Mall
5/28/09 – “Smithsonian Featured in “The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet” ~ Around the Mall
5/21/09 – “Why are Museum Species Bugged?” ~ Around the Mall
5/20/09 – “Five Films Shot at the Smithsonian” ~ Around the Mall
5/20/09 – “A Journey Through Science History From Those Who Lived It” ~ Surprising Science
5/19/09 – “How Big is the Starship Enterprise?” ~ Around the Mall
5/15/09 – “Picture of the Week – Coral Reefs and Climate Change” ~ Surprising Science
5/13/09 – “Are Appalachian Salamanders Carrying a Deadly Fungus?” ~ Around the Mall
5/13/09 – “Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl Tells Hawaii’s Stories” ~ Around the Mall
5/12/09 – “Hubble’s Ugliest Photographs” ~ Surprising Science
5/11/09 – “Picturing Infinity: The Hubble Telescope’s Universal View” ~ The Bigger Picture
5/7/09 – “Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dances the Asian American Experience” ~ Around the Mall
5/6/09 – “Behind the Scenes with American History’s Entertainment Curator” ~ Around the Mall
5/4/09 – “Curating Pandemic at the American History Museum” ~ Around the Mall
5/1/09 – “Send Your Birthday Wishes to Pete Seeger” ~ Around the Mall
4/30/09 – “Smithsonian Magazine as Art” ~ Around the Mall
4/30/09 – “Smile! Elusive Jaguar Caught on Camera in Panama” ~ Around the Mall
4/28/09 – “Curator Finds Murphy Bed’s Place in American History” ~ Around the Mall
4/24/09 – “C.S.I. Smithsonian on Forensic Fridays” ~ Around the Mall
4/23/09 – “Craft Show Artist Kate Bishop Makes Elegantly Eccentric Hats” ~ Around the Mall
4/22/09 – “Science Education Grant Brings Sesame Street Planetarium Show” ~ Around the Mall
4/16/09 – “Geared Grasshoppers: Q and A with Craft Show Artist Mike Libby” ~ Around the Mall
4/16/09 – “Night at the Museum: The Video Game” ~ Around the Mall
4/15/09 – “The Space Art of Wang Ming” ~ Around the Mall
4/13/09 – “They Call Him the Starfish Guy” ~ Around the Mall
4/10/09 – “Nikki the Bear Lost 110 Pounds on the National Zoo Diet” ~ Around the Mall
4/7/09 – “Lactose Tolerance and Human Evolution” ~ Food and Think
4/1/09 – “The Many Faces of Mami Wata” ~ Around the Mall
3/31/09 – “How Photography (and Facebook) Changes Everything” ~ Around the Mall
3/31/09 – “The Scientist is In” ~ Around the Mall
3/27/09 – “Blues Music is Truth – A Farewell Tribute to John Cephas” ~ Around the Mall
3/25/09 – “Environmental Film Festival Review: Who Killed Crassostrea Virginica?” ~ Surprising Science
3/25/09 – “March Madness for the Mind at the Smithsonian” ~ Around the Mall
3/24/09 – “Curator Escapes from the Museum in New Video Game” ~ Around the Mall
3/19/09 – “The Smithsonian Latino Museum Opens — in Second Life” ~ Around the Mall
3/19/09 – “Shuten Doji Will Drink Your Blood and Eat Your Flesh” ~ Around the Mall
3/17/09 – “The Importance of Irish Pirates” ~ Around the Mall
3/12/09 – “Sarkozy’s Not the First World Leader to Collect Stamps” ~ Around the Mall
3/10/09 – “How Zoo Nutritionist Mike Maslanka Feeds the Animals” ~ Around the Mall
2/26/09 – “The National Zoo Diet” ~ Surprising Science
2/25/09 – “Meet the Artist: Ori Gersht” ~ Around the Mall
2/19/09 – “Remembering Executive Order 9066” ~ Around the Mall
2/13/09 – “Darwin Rocks” ~ Surprising Science
2/11/09 – “Grover Krantz Donated His Body to Science, On One Condition…” ~ Around the Mall
2/4/09 – “Saucy Saturn Shows Off at Air and Space Museum” ~ Around the Mall
2/3/09 – “Smithsonian Premiers Virtual Conference Series with Lincoln” ~ Around the Mall
1/29/09 – “Orchids Star in Darwin’s Garden” ~ Around the Mall
1/28/09 – “Our Illustrated Alphabet” ~ Around the Mall
1/27/09 – “Around the Web: Name that Fish” ~ Around the Mall
1/26/09 – “Enter the Year of the Ox” ~ Around the Mall
1/19/09 – “An Antarctic Scientist’s Advice for Surviving the Cold” ~ Surprising Science
1/14/09 – “College Students To Debate Obama’s Priorities at Inaugural Event” ~ Around the Mall
1/9/09 – “National Zoo Part of Aquarium Ark” ~ Around the Mall
1/7/09- “Astronomer Explains Consequences of a More Massive Milky Way” ~ Around the Mall
Audio:
3/26/08 – “University Suicide Law” ~ ScienceMetropolis.com
11/27/07 – “Spirit World” ~ Boston University College of Communication Student Showcase
Video:
12/16/08 – “Salamander Hunt” ~ Chrysalis: Science Transforms
12/10/08 – “Pavlov’s Fish” ~ Chrysalis: Science Transforms
9/26/08 – “The Language of Color” ~ ScienceMetropolis.com
5/12/08 – “Of Pests and Pesticides” ~ ScienceMetropolis.com