Janelle Bitikofer is a magazine writer, columnist, and photographer from the U.S. whose non-fiction articles and photos appear in national magazines for children, teens, and adults. She writes about space science, health, spirituality, people and places, world cultures, and current events. She’s a published member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and a columnist for their quarterly publication the Pen and Palette.
Janelle has loved traveling since childhood when her parents would bundle the family into a travel-camper during summer vacations and whisk her off to national parks, historic sites and roadside diners. She visited 43 of the 50 U.S. States in that camper, and since then she has spent time in Russia, Canada, and Ireland, and checked her 44th U.S. state off her list. She currently lives in the Dominican Republic where she writes and also serves as Clinical Programs Director for a medical humanitarian non-profit organization, Health Horizons International (www.hhidr.org).
Janelle has a master’s degree in Clinical Social Work and is a licensed counselor with many years of experience in the areas of substance abuse, mental health, homelessness, and trauma. She’s served as an emergency responder in natural disasters including Hurricane Katrina, and she’s taught English as a Foreign Language to adults from more than 18 countries in language schools, factories, migrant farm worker camps, and in a tiny kitchen that smelled like warm tortillas.
Janelle loves experiencing unique places and is excited to review your vacation rental