I am a scientist and photographer. With a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from UCLA, I have been working at Scripps Research since 2009. After I moved to San Diego, I learned photography by experimenting. Scientific research teaches me to be inquisitive and methodical. Photography teaches me to observe. In the past six years, I have become a regular ocean swimmer. Swimming teaches me to feel and connect.

All along, I have not been much of a writer besides writing dry, technical research protocols and manuscripts. Sometimes I am envious of how freely my ten-year-old daughter is able to write. Once I started doing a little creative writing myself, I discovered that writing teaches me to think. Creating My Umwelt blog is my attempt to expand my perceptual world—my umwelt—through observing, thinking, and writing.

— Minghua Nie

May, 2023

Minghua Nie photography Year Begins Where It Ends
The Year Begins Where It Ends

I wanted not a window on the world but the world itself.

Joan Didion, “Telling Stories”

If you are interested in following my blog, write to me (my first name dot last name @GMAIL.com).

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