A Renaissance Editor:
I am that person who reads style guides for fun and reflexively copyedits every piece of text in her vicinity. I've been an editor and journalist for more than ten years, but I also have a science background, so I am not afraid of technical or dense material. I have experience working with publishers, authors, and institutions, editing both academic and popular works spanning politics, history, city planning, urban affairs, parenting, sexuality, and more, and I always enjoy learning about new topics as I edit. I get great joy out of all stages of editing, from helping an author reorganize a cluttered manuscript to polishing a final draft.

Experience:
Freelance Editor, Editorial Consultant, and Freelance Writer: 1999–present.
As part of my freelance work, I’ve edited books, journals, magazine articles, multiauthor online collections, and communications material. I work regularly a range of publishers, institutions, and individuals. In the fields of urban issues, housing, and community development I also do research and writing. See testimonials here.

News Editor, Metroland: August 2003–May 2006.
At this weekly newspaper, I was responsible for the news and lead feature sections. This included editorial planning, writing articles, managing staff, and large amounts of editing. I worked with staff writers to improve their writing skills, did substantive edits on their first drafts, and shared responsibility for copyediting and proofreading all parts of the paper.

Project Director, Urban Homesteading Assistance Board: June 2002–July 2003.
As part of the senior staff of this nonprofit, I handled all the communications needs of the office, including writing and editing an e-mail newsletter for supporters and press, writing profiles of the organization’s successes, webmastering, and grant writing.

Managing Editor, Shelterforce: March 2000–March 2002.
I managed the editorial and production process from beginning to end for this national community-development magazine. Because the magazine’s articles were often written by nonprofessional writers, this involved a heavy editing load. I was directly responsible for editing the entire content of the magazine and created its first in-house style guide.

Assistant Publisher, Shelterforce: September 1998–March 2000.
Editorial Assistant, Shelterforce: June 1997–September 1998.

Education:
Mediabistro: Fact-finding seminar, 2002; Copyediting seminar, 2003; Humor Writing for Journalists, 2003; Online copyediting class, 2007.

Pratt Institute: Graduate classes in urban planning, 1998–2000.

Oberlin College: BA in environmental studies and biochemistry, 1997.