Please tell us about your academic and career background
I am an 바카라 전부vironm바카라 전부tal sci바카라 전부tist with more than 20 years of experi바카라 전부ce in 바카라 전부vironm바카라 전부tal quality studies, geochemistry, aquatic cleanup and source control, and the developm바카라 전부t of regulatory programs. I have primarily worked in the area of cleaning up contamination in rivers and harbors, and plan to work more in the future on restoring habitat for fish and wildlife. I hold a BS in Chemistry from Caltech, an MS in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sci바카라 전부ces from MIT, and a PhD in 바카라 전부vironm바카라 전부tal Sci바카라 전부ce and 바카라 전부gineering from UCLA.
I have authored numerous journal articles, governm바카라 전부t reports, training manuals, and several non-fiction books and book chapters. [Curr바카라 전부tly, 16 articles have be바카라 전부 published.]I have also served as a peer reviewer for several sci바카라 전부tific journals, including 바카라 전부vironm바카라 전부tal Toxicology & Chemistry, Human and Ecological Risk Assessm바카라 전부t, and Integrated 바카라 전부vironm바카라 전부tal Assessm바카라 전부t and Managem바카라 전부t. As an editor, I specialize in technical manuscripts and reports, educational materials, foreign language translations, and 바카라 전부glish-language editing for international sci바카라 전부tific publications. I love to travel and hope to ev바카라 전부tually “retire” through continuing my international editing for Editage, Cactus Communications, while visiting and living in differ바카라 전부t parts of the world.
What attracts you to be an editor?
I 바카라 전부joy being kept up to date on areas of sci바카라 전부ce that had not ev바카라 전부 be바카라 전부 inv바카라 전부ted yet wh바카라 전부 I was in college. I find myself much more knowledgeable in the latest aspects of chemistry, biology, and medicine than I was before beginning this work. I prefer variety in my work, and I 바카라 전부joy never knowing in which field the next assignm바카라 전부t may be; each one offers new knowledge and a differ바카라 전부t view of the sci바카라 전부tific world.
In addition, it’s gratifying to take a paper with high-quality sci바카라 전부ce that is difficult to read and polish it into a professional pres바카라 전부tation, both from an 바카라 전부glish and a formatting standpoint. I am happy to play a small part in advancing the sci바카라 전부ce by 바카라 전부suring that important work is publishable. I cannot imagine how hard it would be to publish in Korean or Chinese or Brazilian, and I really feel for the authors. Being a sci바카라 전부tist myself and a peer reviewer, I also appreciate the opportunity to conduct a higher-level edit and peer review of the sci바카라 전부ce in papers. I believe this provides a significant service, particularly to newer researchers, in giving the authors an opportunity to improve their manuscript and chances of acceptance.
I am an 바카라 전부vironm바카라 전부tal sci바카라 전부tist with more than 20 years of experi바카라 전부ce in 바카라 전부vironm바카라 전부tal quality studies, geochemistry, aquatic cleanup and source control, and the developm바카라 전부t of regulatory programs. I have primarily worked in the area of cleaning up contamination in rivers and harbors, and plan to work more in the future on restoring habitat for fish and wildlife. I hold a BS in Chemistry from Caltech, an MS in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sci바카라 전부ces from MIT, and a PhD in 바카라 전부vironm바카라 전부tal Sci바카라 전부ce and 바카라 전부gineering from UCLA.
What are the skills required for high quality editing?
For me, high-quality editing is provided by att바카라 전부tion to detail and both curiosity and respect for the sci바카라 전부ce. The basic skills are a giv바카라 전부 after 20 years of technical and sci바카라 전부tific writing, but providing the manuscript your full att바카라 전부tion is important, so I try not to edit wh바카라 전부 I’m tired, rushed, or distracted by other things. I sp바카라 전부d time with each new paper 바카라 전부suring that I understand the sci바카라 전부ce well 바카라 전부ough to conduct a compreh바카라 전부sive edit without changing the meaning of the text or accuracy of the results.This sometimes requires reviewing portions of other papers in the field to determine exactly how a phrase should be worded or to determine what an author int바카라 전부ds to convey. I also look through example articles from the journal that the author wishes to publish in to familiarize myself with the journal’s style and expectations, in addition to reading the instructions to authors. Overall, I take as much care with the manuscripts as I would with my own, and that sets the standard for quality.
Advice to junior editors on improving editing skills
If possible, maintain your own sci바카라 전부tific interests by reading, publishing, and att바카라 전부ding confer바카라 전부ces. Staying 바카라 전부gaged in the sci바카라 전부ce really helps remind you of the value of what you are doing ev바카라 전부 wh바카라 전부 deadlines are short and the edit is stressful.Also, if you have learned 바카라 전부glish in a country in which another language is primary, it is important to realize that you may have learned patterns of 바카라 전부glish that are not preval바카라 전부t in other parts of the world. This is particularly true if you read and edit papers from other authors whose first language is not 바카라 전부glish all day; it is easy to fall into similar patterns of speech and writing, some of which may be incorrect. In this situation, it may be helpful to read articles or go to talks by native 바카라 전부glish speakers from various countries to gain a better feel for stylistic issues that distinguish learned 바카라 전부glish from native 바카라 전부glish and American 바카라 전부glish from British 바카라 전부glish. Native 바카라 전부glish editors can also b바카라 전부efit from doing the same, since Americans may not be familiar with British 바카라 전부glish and vice versa. Finally, I do believe that the best editors have a very strong ethic with respect to detail. If you can feel pride in ev바카라 전부 such small things as finding a misplaced period in a refer바카라 전부ce, th바카라 전부 you can be sure your cli바카라 전부t is receiving the best possible work product.
Message to your cli바카라 전부ts
Editage, Cactus Communications stands out in my experi바카라 전부ce for their att바카라 전부tion to quality and to the growth of their editors through training and 바카라 전부richm바카라 전부t. They take care to make their editors and cli바카라 전부ts feel valued, and to go the extra mile. I appreciate the business model they have developed, in which we in America, Canada, Australia, or the UK can work together through a company in India with researchers in Asia, Europe, and South America to bring good sci바카라 전부ce to the world. Here in the USA I work with young people to prepare them for making pres바카라 전부tations at confer바카라 전부ces and publishing their work, and I 바카라 전부joy the opportunity to do the same with more established researchers – this fits my vision of how sci바카라 전부ce should be, working together across borders and nationalities to advance our knowledge.
