Resume

OBJECTIVE

Download a PDF copy of Melissa's résumé.

Science writing and editing projects geared toward children and adults.

HONORS AND AWARDS

Writing

Bank Street College of Education Best Children’s Book of the Year, Science

Green Earth Book Award

Izaak Walton League of America Conservation Book of the Year

Kansas State Reading Circle Recommended Reading List

National Council for the Social Studies/Children's Book Council Notable Trade Book for Young People

National Science Teachers Association Recommended Title

New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age

Science Books & Films Best Books for Children

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators / Anna Cross Giblin Nonfiction Research Grant

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Annual Conference Fellowship

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Work-in-Progress Grant finalist

Society of School Librarians International Best Book, Science

Society of School Librarians International Honor Book

Editing

American Library Association Notable Book

Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year

Booklist Top Ten Animal Books for Youth

Children's Book Council /National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Children's Science Trade Book

Colorado Authors League Award

International Reading Association/Children's Book Council Children's Choice

International Reading Association Notable Children's Book Award

New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age

Science Books & Films Best Books for Children

Voice of Youth Advocates Honors List

Young Adult Library Services Association /American Library Association Quick Pick

EXPERIENCE AND ACHIEVEMENTS

Writing

Wrote more than 100 children's books for the school and library, trade, and classroom markets.

Contributed articles to American Forests, American Heritage of Invention and Technology, Ask, Book Links, ChemMatters, Click, Highlights for Children, Instructor, MATH, Medical Tribune, National Geographic World, Natural New England, The New York Daily News, The New York Doctor, North Maine Woods Bulletin, Northern Woodlands, Odyssey, Ranger Rick, Science World, Today's Science, Wild Outdoor World, Wildlife Conservation, The Writer, and ZooGoer.

Wrote material for middle-grade and high-school science textbooks.

Created copy for a museum exhibit and wrote grants for a museum.

Developed navigational infrastructure and created copy for educational websites.

Wrote daily articles for a medical news wire service.

Editing

Acquired and project edited more than 200 science, health, and technology books for children: Identified marketable submissions, negotiated contracts, made manuscripts readable and age-appropriate, oversaw flow of books through page makeup, and approved galleys/matchprints.

Developed seven critically-acclaimed book series, including one featured in an exhibit at Yale University’s Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut.

Developed proposals for large-scale educational publishing projects (print and multimedia).

Edited chapters of high school science textbooks and ancillary materials.
Fact checked, copy edited, and proofread scientific and medical material for children and adults.

Educating

Taught fiction and nonfiction writing classes for Acton-Boxborough Community Education Program, Arlington Center for the Arts, Concord-Carlisle Adult and Community Education Program, Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, Institute of Children’s Literature, and Middlesex Community College.

Taught children’s creative writing classes for Acton-Boxborough Community Education Program and Metrowest Arts Alliance.

Offered author presentations to schools, libraries, and nature centers.

Worked part-time as a substitute teacher, camp instructor, and museum docent.

Managing

Director, 2006 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ New England Conference.

Co-director, 2005 Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators’ New England Conference.

Supervised a team of 25 editors, designers, computer artists, photo researchers, and traffickers.

Hired and evaluated work of freelance illustrators, photographers, fact checkers, copy editors, proofreaders, and indexers.

Developed departmental budgets and production schedules.

EDUCATION

New York University, New York, NY M.A. in Journalism, December 1991; Certificate in Science and Environmental Reporting, December 1991. Honors: Shell Fellowship, University Scholarship

Union College, Schenectady, NY B.S. in Biology, cum laude, June 1990; Term abroad, University of Bath, Bath, England, Fall 1988. Senior honors project and thesis: Isolated, cloned, and sequenced a portion of the pecanex locus in Drosophila melanogaster. Honors: Associate member of Sigma Xi, Union College Scholarship, Daughters of the American Revolution Magna Scholarship, National Honor Society Scholarship.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Freelance Writer, Editor, and Instructor, Honeybee Productions, January 1991-present

Executive Editor/Senior Editor/Editor, Scholastic Library/Grolier, Danbury, CT, 1995-2000

Managing Editor/Project Editor, Foca Company, New York, NY, 1992-1995

Associate Editor, Healthmark Medical Education Media, New York, NY, 1991

Assistant Editor/Writer, Medical Tribune, New York, NY, 1991

Research Assistant, Cytogenetics Laboratory, Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY, 1990

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

American Association for the Advancement of Science, Children's Literature Network, Foundation for Children’s Books, Massachusetts Environmental Education Society, National Association of Science Writers, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators