Scott W. Nixon is a professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. In 1970, he earned a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Nixon served as the director of the Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program from 1984 through 2000. In addition, he is co-editor in chief of Estuaries, the journal of the Estuarine Research Federation. His research interests include estuaries, lagoons and wetlands. He wrote about his work on the Nile in Ambio in 2003, from which his article, "The Artificial Nile," is in part derived. Address: Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island, Narragansett, RI 02882-1197. Internet: swn@gso.uri.edu