Professional writing and copy editing

I have experience in professional academic writing, grant writing, and freelance copy-editing.

Between 2020 and 2023, I worked as an editing assistant on the Handbook of Amazonian Languages, edited by Patience Epps and Lev Michael. This Handbook is a four-volume project providing reference grammars for each language or language family in the Amazonian region of South America, with each chapter written by experts on that language. As editorial assistant, I established formatting guidelines for each chapter based on the guidelines provided by the publisher. I checked abbreviations and references within each chapter for internal and cross-chapter consistency, checked for typographical errors, and lightly edited for style where necessary. In some chapters, the editors required more extensive editing; in some cases I made substantial updates to the prose, including drafting explanations of the analysis based on the data provided. In conjunction with the editors, I established a standardized workflow for chapters in the project, provided realistic timelines for completion of work, and met scheduled publishing deadlines. I also provided feedback to the editors on more substantive analytical issues, especially in cases where similar issues arose in multiple chapters and a standard approach had to be established. My time with this project is now coming to a close, and I am working with the editors to train my replacement, modifying our current workflow to meet updated guidelines from the publisher.

In addition to my work on the Handbook, I have substantial experience with academic writing in other contexts. I have periodically worked as a freelance copy-editor, providing editing assistance to non-native English speakers on their academic writing (dissertations and papers). These jobs required me to work within the needs of the individual author, adjusting my approach based on their needs for the project. I also have experience with grant writing, having successfully written proposals for fieldwork and research funding, including a successful application for a FLAS grant for language learning and an NSF-DDRIG grant (No.2024000).