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Hire Melissa D.

Switzerland

USD 100 /hr

Ecologist (PhD, MSc, MLA) | Freelance scientific editor with 7 years of experience

Profile Summary

I have worked as a freelance scientific editor for 7 years, completing substantive and copy editing of >250 manuscripts (main text, supplementary material, figures and tables, citations, reviewer response letters), three books, high-profile national and international reports (e.g. IPCC, SCNAT), and a large website (including translations from German). I have edited texts in a range of fields including archaeology, biogeochemistry, botany, ecology, evolution, forestry, geography, engineering, landscape planning, microbiology, snow and climate science, and veterinary science (see http://www.scientific-editing.ch for a list of recent work). I have extensive experience in implementing house editorial style guidelines, following style manuals (e.g. Chicago Manual of Style, New Oxford Style Manual), and applying both UK and US language conventions. I work using Tracked Changes in MS Word, Adobe Acrobat (for PDF), or Overleaf (for Latex). As an editor, I am frequently commended on my promptness (always returning assignments on time and often early), my meticulous attention to detail, my clear and constructive comments and in-line corrections, and my ability to offer suggestions to improve not only the clarity of the writing but also the scientific content. Beyond my editing experience, my research background in ecology and broad academic training in the sciences mean that I am well equipped to critically evaluate scientific texts. During my PhD studies, I investigated plant responses to experimental CO2 enrichment and soil warming at the Swiss treeline. Aware that the full potential of this experiment had not yet been reached, I then wrote two successful grant proposals to fund further research activity on the project. As a postdoc I led the final phase of this 12-year study, including coordinating the efforts of several research groups from different ecological disciplines, running field campaigns and lab analyses, managing large amounts of samples and data, supervising students, completing statistical analyses (in R), writing publications, and presenting findings orally. In my seven years as a postdoc and research scientist, I additionally contributed to projects on alpine plant diversity, alpine and Arctic treeline dynamics, and subalpine water relations, and I assisted in the implementation of an online data platform. The eight first-author papers in high-impact journals (nine as co-author) emerging from the Swiss treeline project alone speak to my excellent command of all phases of scientific research, as well as my ability to implement feedback from collaborators and peer reviewers effectively.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ★ Ecology
• ★ Scientific Proofreading & Editing
• ☆ Biology/Life Sciences
• ☆ Plant Physiology
• ☆ Forestry
• ☆ Biogeochemistry
• ☆ Climate Science
• ☆ Landscape Architecture

Services

• Writing
• Research

Writing Technical Writing

Research Systematic Literature Review

Work Experience

Freelance scientific editor

-

January 2014 - Present

Research Scientist

Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research, WSL

January 2014 - January 2017

Life Sciences Independent Contract Editor

American Journal Experts

January 2016 - December 2016

Postdoctoral Researcher

WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research, SLF

December 2010 - June 2014

Student intern

Water Quality Monitoring Team, Seattle Public Utilities

January 2005 - December 2006

Education

PhD (Botanical Institute)

University of Basel

September 2007 - December 2010

PhD Ecology

University of Basel, Swtizerland

August 2007 - December 2010

MSc Ecosystem science

University of Washington, Seattle

January 2005 - January 2007

MLA Landscape architecture

University of Washington, Seattle

January 2004 - January 2007

BSc Biological sciences

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

January 2000 - January 2003

Certifications

• Certification details not provided.

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Frank Hagedorn, Melissa A. Dawes, Maxim O. Bubnov, Nadezhda M. Devi, Andrey A. Grigoriev, Valeriy S. Mazepa, Zufar Y. Nagimov, Stepan G. Shiyatov, Pavel A. Moiseev(2020). Latitudinal decline in stand biomass and productivity at the elevational treeline in the Ural mountains despite a common thermal growth limit . Journal of Biogeography. Wiley

Patrick Möhl, Martin A. Mörsdorf, Melissa A. Dawes, Frank Hagedorn, Peter Bebi, Davide Viglietti, Michele Freppaz, Sonja Wipf, Christian Körner, Frank M. Thomas, et al.(2019). Twelve years of low nutrient input stimulates growth of trees and dwarf shrubs in the treeline ecotone . Journal of Ecology. 107. (2). p. 768--780. Wiley

Esther R. Frei, Eva Bianchi, Giulietta Bernareggi, Peter Bebi, Melissa A. Dawes, Carissa D. Brown, Andrew J. Trant, Steven D. Mamet, Christian Rixen(2018). Biotic and abiotic drivers of tree seedling recruitment across an alpine treeline ecotone . Scientific Reports. 8. (1). Springer Nature

Joseph M. Craine, Andrew J. Elmore, Lixin Wang, Julieta Aranibar, Marijn Bauters, Pascal Boeckx, Brooke E. Crowley, Melissa A. Dawes, Sylvain Delzon, Alex Fajardo, et al.(2018). Isotopic evidence for oligotrophication of terrestrial ecosystems . Nature Ecology & Evolution. 2. (11). p. 1735--1744. Springer Science and Business Media {LLC}

Steinbauer, M.J., Grytnes, J.-A., Jurasinski, G. et al. 2018. Accelerated increase in plant species richness on mountain summits is linked to warming. Nature 556: 231–234 .

Angela Luisa Prendin, Giai Petit, Patrick Fonti, Christian Rixen, Melissa Autumn Dawes, Georg Arx, Markku Larjavaara(2018). Axial xylem architecture of Larix decidua exposed to CO 2 enrichment and soil warming at the tree line . Functional Ecology. 32. (2). p. 273--287. Wiley

Anadon-Rosell, A., Dawes, M.A., Fonti, P., Hagedorn, F., Rixen, C., von Arx, G. 2018. Xylem anatomical and growth responses of the dwarf shrub Vaccinium myrtillus to experimental CO2 enrichment and soil warming at treeline. Science of the Total Environment 642: 1172–1183 .

Melissa A. Dawes, Patrick Schleppi, Frank Hagedorn, David Wardle(2017). The fate of nitrogen inputs in a warmer alpine treeline ecosystem: a 15 N labelling study . Journal of Ecology. 105. (6). p. 1723--1737. Wiley-Blackwell

Solly, E., Lindahl, B.D., Dawes, M.A., Peter, M., Souza, R.C., Rixen, C., Hagedorn, F. 2017. Experimental soil warming shifts the fungal community composition at the alpine treeline. New Phytologist 215 (2): 766-778 .

Souza, R. C., Solly, E. F., Dawes, M. A., Graf, F., Hagedorn, F., Egli, S., … Peter, M. (2017). Responses of soil extracellular enzyme activities to experimental warming and CO2 enrichment at the alpine treeline. Plant and Soil, 416(1-2), 527-537 .

Melissa A. Dawes, Patrick Schleppi, Stephan Hättenschwiler, Christian Rixen, Frank Hagedorn(2017). Soil warming opens the nitrogen cycle at the alpine treeline . Global Change Biology. 23. (1). p. 421--434. Wiley-Blackwell

Myers-Smith, I.H., Elmendorf, S., Beck, P., Wilmking, M., Hallinger, M., Blok, D., Tape, K.D., Rayback, S.A., Macias-Fauria, M., Forbes, B.C., Speed, J.D.M., Boulanger-Lapointe, N., Rixen, C., Lévesque, E., Schmidt, N.M., Baittinger, C., Trant, A.J., Hermanutz, L., Siegwart Collier, L., Dawes, M.A., Lantz, T., Weijers, S., Jørgensen, R.H., Buchwal, A., Buras, A., Naito, A.T., Ravolainen, V., Schaepman-Strub, G., Wheeler, J., Wipf, S., Guay, K., Hik, D. and Vellend, M. 2015. Climate sensitivity of shrub growth across the tundra biome. Nature Climate Change (5) 887–891 .

Brunner, I., Herzog, C., Dawes, M.A., Arend, M. and Sperisen, C. 2015. How tree roots respond to drought. Frontiers in Plant Science (6) 547 .

Karbin, S., Hagedorn, F., Dawes, M.A. and Niklaus, P.A. 2015. Does treeline soil warming affect soil methane fluxes and the spatial micro-distribution of methanotrophic bacteria? Soil Biology and Biochemistry (86) 164-171 .

Myers-Smith, I.H., Hallinger, M., Wilmking, M., Blok, D., Sass-Klaassen, U., Rayback, S.A., Weijers, S., Trant, A., Tape, K.D., Naito, A.T., Wipf, S., Rixen, C., Dawes, M.A., Wheeler, J., Buchwal, A., Baittinger, C., Fauria, M.M., Forbes, B.C., Levesque, E., Boulanger-Lapointe, N., Beil, I. and Ravolainen, V. 2015. Methods for measuring arctic and alpine shrub growth: a review. Earth-Science Reviews (140) 1-13 .

Dawes, M.A., Philipson, C.D., Fonti, P., Bebi, P., Hättenschwiler, S., Hagedorn, F. and Rixen, C. 2015. Soil warming and CO2 enrichment induce biomass shifts in alpine treeline vegetation. Global Change Biology (21:5) 2005-2021 .

Anadon-Rosell, A., Rixen, C., Cherubini, P., Wipf, S., Hagedorn, F. and Dawes, M.A. 2014. Growth and phenology of three dwarf shrub species in a six-year soil warming experiment at the alpine treeline. PLOS ONE (9:6) e100577 .

Melissa A. Dawes and Roman Zweifel and Nicholas Dawes and Christian Rixen and Frank Hagedorn(2014). CO2 enrichment alters diurnal stem radius fluctuations of 36-yr-old Larix decidua growing at the alpine tree line . New Phytologist. 202. (4). p. 1237--1248. Wiley-Blackwell

Oberbauer, S.F., Elmendorf, S.C., Troxler, T., Hollister, R.D., Rocha, A., Bret-Harte, S., Dawes, M.A., Fosaa, A.M., Høye, T.T., Henry, G.H.R., Jarrad, F., Jonsdottir, I.S., Klanderud, K., Klein, J.A., Molau, U., Rixen, C., Schmidt, N.M., Shaver, G., Slider, R., Totland, O., Wahren, C.H., Welker, J.M. 2013. Phenological responses of tundra plants to background climate variation tested using the International Tundra Experiment (ITEX). Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B. (368) 20120481 .

Dawes, M.A., Hagedorn, F., Handa, I.T., Streit, K., Ekblad, A., Rixen, C., Körner, C. and Hättenschwiler, S. 2013. An alpine treeline in a CO2-rich world: synthesis of a nine year CO2 enrichment study. Oecologia (171:3) 623-637 .

Streit, K., Rinne, K.T., Hagedorn, F., Dawes, M.A., Saurer, M., Hoch, G., Werner, R.A., Buchmann, N. and Siegwolf, R.T. 2013. Tracing fresh assimilates in Larix decidua exposed to elevated CO2 and soil warming at the alpine treeline using compound-specific stable isotope analysis. New Phytologist (197:3) 838-849 .

Barbeito, I., Dawes, M.A., Rixen, C., Senn, J. and Bebi, P. 2012. Factors driving survival and growth at treeline: a 30-year experiment of 92,000 conifers. Ecology (93:2) 389-401 .

Rixen, C., Dawes, M.A., Wipf, S. and Hagedorn, F. 2012. Evidence of enhanced freezing damage in treeline plants during six years of CO2 enrichment and soil warming. Oikos (121) 1532-1543 .

Dawes, M.A., Hagedorn, F., Zumbrunn, T., Handa, I.T., Hättenschwiler, S., Wipf, S. and Rixen, C. 2011. Growth and community responses of alpine dwarf shrubs to in situ CO2 enrichment and soil warming. New Phytologist (191:3) 806-818 .

Dawes, M.A., Hättenschwiler, S., Bebi, P., Hagedorn, F., Handa, I.T., Körner, C. and Rixen, C. 2011. Species-specific tree growth responses to nine years of CO2 enrichment at the alpine treeline. Journal of Ecology (99) 383-394 .

Martin, M.A., Gavazov, K., Hättenschwiler, S., Körner, C. and Rixen, C. 2010. Reduced early growing season freezing resistance in alpine treeline plants under elevated atmospheric CO2. Global Change Biology (16:3) 1057-1070 .

Hagedorn, F., Martin, M.A., Rixen, C., Rusch, S., Zürcher, A., Siegwolf, R., Wipf, S., Escape, C., Roy, J. and Hättenschwiler, S. 2010. Short-term responses of ecosystem carbon fluxes to experimental soil warming at the Swiss alpine treeline. Biogeochemistry (97:1) 7-19 .