Welcome to Brazen Careerist!

About Me

Science communicator. Enthusiast of chemistry, environmental science, writing, public speaking, Winston Churchill. A nerd sorting out science for the cool kids.

Specialties

Work History

• Virginia Sea Grant
• Communicator
• June 2009 to Present

• Spearheaded the development and launch of online technology/media suite, internal communications strategy, and student intern program.
  • Improved employees’ feelings of interconnectivity (evidenced through fy11/12 survey) through development and execution of internal communications strategies.
  • Fully responsible for administrative workers and student interns, from advertising to training.
  • Increased organization’s visibility to home institution, producing 10% of content on institution’s homepage in fy10/11.

• Quicksilver Scientific
• Communications Officer
• September 2007 to June 2009

• Project manager responsible for achieving laboratory accreditation through development of standard operating procedures, quality management plan, and business plan. Initiating marketing campaign, including conceptualizing, designing, and writing
  plan and all collateral.
  • Conducted primary marketing research and synthesized with secondary marketing research to author marketing plans for various products.
  • Recognized by CEO as the developer of standard operating procedures and reporting templates key to obtaining and maintaining laboratory accreditation.
  • Increased laboratory efficiency through development of standard operating procedures.

• Writers Research Group
• Contract Writer
• May 2007 to August 2008

• Exceeded expectations by researching and writing an average of 40 “how to” articles per month for web (ehow.com) from home office. Expertly handled many different types of content from science to travel, from sports to crafts/hobbies.
  • Mastered web content writing in terms of SEO and length.
  • Awarded more intensive writing opportunities after only 6 months of employment by writing an additional 10 articles per month for work.com.

• McDougall Littell
• Science Editor
• July 2005 to September 2007

• Lead a team of photo-researchers and designers in curriculum development of high school-level human physiology textbook. Led in development of middle school science ancillaries.
  • Mastered English grammar and content editing.
  • Praised by supervisors for having successfully developed “the most difficult chapters in the book”, focusing on the immune, endocrine, and nervous systems.
  • Singled out for praise by customers who identified my chapters as exceptionally useful for the classroom.

Education

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• MS, Journalism
• 2004 - 2005

• During my Masters education, I worked with the U of IL Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering to help write and produce their student and alumni newsletters and publications.

  I also worked as Manager of the Student Union's entertainment venue, booking nightly events, such as touring bands, comedians, performances, etc. I was responsible for scheduling, negotiating, and marketing 5 different events each week.
  Activities and Societies: Master's Project was on science of dyslexia and methods for remediation.

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• BS, Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Soil and Water Chemistry
• 2001 - 2004

• To date, two scientific articles and one Ph.D. thesis acknowledges my contributions in the laboratory and field:
  • 2003. Jones, A. "Assessment of sewage and septic derived N in the Choptank and Patuxent Rivers."
  • 2004. Nagel, ED. "Nitrogen Fixation in Benthic Microalgal Mats: an important, internal source of "new" nitrogen to benthic communities in Florida Bay."
  • 2009. Glessner, JJG. "Paleosols in Central Illinois as Potential Sources of Ammonium in Groundwater."