About Myself

Born in Toronto, Canada, I grew up in northern Ontario. Later I traveled to Australia, where I lived in Perth and in Melbourne. I have a dual degree in Journalism and English Literature (Perth), as well as a Graduate Diploma in Education (Perth), a Certificate of Professional Writing (Melbourne), and a SENSE Certificate of Proficiency in Editing (Distinction) (Utrecht, Netherlands).

I worked for several years in Australia as a journalist and as a teacher of journalism, literature, media studies, creative writing, and English as a Second Language (ESL).

In 1986 I traveled to Europe, where I worked extensively in Germany as a teacher of ESL as well as a copywriter, copyeditor, and translator. In the Ukraine I taught ESL at a language institute in Kyiv and was the English language copyeditor for two major publishing houses (Dnipro and Mystyetstvo).

Between 1992 and 2007 I worked full-time for Springer-Verlag GmbH, an international publisher of medical/scientific books and journals. I now work freelance for this and other organizations. I currently live in The Netherlands.

I speak German and Dutch. Thus, when I edit English language translations from either of these languages I’m able to refer to the source material.

Membership:
Society of English-Native-Speaking Editors (SENSE) Netherlands
European Association of Science Editors (EASE) UK

Resources include:

Chicago Manual of Style
Collins English Dictionary
Oxford Dictionary for Writers & Editors
Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar
Collins Cobuild English Dictionary for Advanced Learners
The American Heritage College Dictionary
Roget’s International Thesaurus
A Writer’s Handbook of Current English by M.D. Moore
Elements of Style by Strunk and White
The Copyeditor’s Handbook by Amy Einsohn
Proofreading Plain & Simple by Debra Hart May
Editing Fact and Fiction by Leslie T. Sharpe and Irene Gunther
The Craft of Scientific Writing by Michael Alley
The Craft of Editing: A guide for managers, scientists, and engineers by Michael Alley
The CBE Manual: Scientific Style and Format The Associated Press Stylebook
Black’s Law Dictionary (8th ed.)
The Elements of Legal Style by Bryan A. Garner

Other grammar, punctuation, and style books too numerous to name
Diverse medical and scientific journal editing guidelines