CURRICULUM VITAE
Revised 2-27-2014
Jennie Dusheck
Freelance Science Writing & Editing
1463 Redwood Drive Santa Cruz, CA 95060-1280
(831) 427-1391
dusheck@nasw.org
http://www.linkedin.com/in/dusheck
EDUCATION
Canadian Academy, Kobe, Japan
High School Diploma with Distinction
University of California, Berkeley
B.A. in Integrative Biology
(worked my way through college)
University of California, Davis
M.A. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Thesis: Host choice in oligophagous butterflies
University of California, Santa Cruz
Certificate in Science Communication
Internships:
UC Santa Cruz Public Information Office
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Science News
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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
CURRENT
Freelance science writer, editor, and author: I have expertise in textbook and curriculum
development, online learning programs, proceedings for scientific meetings, book proposal
development, and magazine writing, with articles in Nature, Science, and Natural History. I am
co-author of three editions of an award-winning college biology textbook.
MS Discovery Forum Freelance writer
National Association of Science Writers Freelance Committee, Chair
LA Times Book Prize Science &Technology Panel Judge
2009-2010
Kaplan Higher Ed. Designed and edited modules for an online interactive multimedia MCAT
course, including detailed script, art development, and student self assessments.
Learning in Motion. Planned and wrote a four-week course on electric power generation and
climate change for low-income 8th graders. Wrote detailed curriculum and scripts for teachers
instructing 8th graders in introductory physics (energy transfer, electricity generation and
circuits). Emphasis on experimental design and data manipulation.
CK-12 Foundation. Editorial work on an open source textbook project (three textbooks).
NSF Wrote and submitted an NSF grant to develop an online game about evolution.
2007-2008
Oxford University Press. Wrote a detailed book proposal with chapter, including a complete
chapter on the evolution of human diet for an academic client/coauthor at Rutgers University.
Agile Mind. Edited an interactive online biology course for content, pedagogy, and writing style
designed by a private company that provides K-12 online educational support in math and
science.
Cure Huntington’s Disease Initiative (CHDI). Wrote a 35,000-word proceedings for CHDI’s
second annual therapeutics conference. This four-day workshop included presentations by 30
different biotech companies with different technologies and approaches to therapies for
Huntington’s Disease. Also wrote an 8000-word summary of an all-day meeting of CHDI’s
“Advisory Group for In Vivo Testing in Huntington Models”
University of California, Davis, Department of Entomology
Editorial work for a proposed book on senescence for a Davis faculty member.
2004-2007
Broken back, major surgery, and recovery.
1992-2004
Society for Women’s Health Research. Wrote the proceedings for SWHR’s Third Annual
Conference on Sex and Gene Expression.
University of California College Prep Initiative. Wrote and won a grant for an online course in
Advance Placement Environmental Science. Designed and wrote a module in collaboration with
two educational software developers.
Asking About Life. Lead author on three editions of an award-winning college biology textbook.
1986-1993
University of California, Santa Cruz, Science Communication Program
Principal Editor Edited the magazine Science Notes. Each year, assigned and edited 10 stories
by graduate student writers and illustrators. Worked with 20 grad students through four to five
revisions of stories and illustrations. Took entire newsletter through all phases of editing, art
development, graphic design, and publishing. Won multiple awards from the national Council for
the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for my work.
1985-1986
University of California, Santa Cruz, Institute of Marine Sciences
Editor As above for the science publication IMS News. Won a gold medal from the Council for
the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) for my work.
2 1983-1985
University of California, Berkeley, Department of Molecular Biology
Staff Research Associate II Experimentally determined the best protocol for preserving and
examining Xenopus laevis embryos for a 1992 NASA space shuttle experiment on axis
determination at 0 gravity (“microgravity”). Wrote the final protocol.
1978-1981
University of California, Davis, Department of Agronomy and Range Science
Research Assistant Analyzed diets of cattle and three species of deer living at Point Reyes
Nat’l Seashore by microscopic examination of scat and stomach contents. Made a catalog of
microphotographs and wrote a dichotomous key for identifying 200 species of plants based on
particles of plant epidermis. Compiled, analyzed, and summarized resulting data; trained and
supervised two assistants.
1972-1979
Miscellaneous research and experience. Mapped cone-bearing trees for the US Forest Service
(Mount Shasta), located and catalogued tissue specimens for UC Berkeley’s Museum of
Vertebrate Zoology, and sampled air for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District.
Performed FDA-mandated purity tests on allergen extracts manufactured for human use by a
small Bay Area company, and worked as a surgical nurse for a research veterinarian at UC San
Francisco.
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BOOKS AND CONTRIBUTIONS
Discover Biology, 5th ed., Anu Singh-Cundy, 2011, W.W. Norton. As contributing author, I
wrote 36 new or revised chapter opening stories for the 5th edition of the college biology
textbook Discover Biology.
Essentials of Cell Biology, Bruce Alberts, et al. Edited one chapter for a new edition of this best
selling textbook.
Life, A Journey through Time, by Frans Lanting, 2006. A photo story of the evolutionary history
of life on Earth. Contributed first draft caption manuscript telling story of the formation of
universe, Earth, its atmospheres and oceans, and the evolution of life over billions of years.
Authored Asking About Life, 3/e, Tobin and Dusheck, Thomson Learning, 2005. Lead author.
Work included revision of all text, overseeing revision of art and photo manuscripts, including
about 800 images with captions.
Genetics for Students, Robinson, R. (editor): MacMillan Reference USA, 2003. Contributor to
this high school encyclopedia.
Proceedings from the Third Annual Conference on Sex and Gene Expression, Society for
Women’s Health Research, 2002
Asking About Life, 2/e, Tobin and Dusheck, Harcourt College Publishing, 2001. Lead author on
this college-level textbook.
3 Life Science, Allen, Berg, Dumas, Dusheck, and Taylor: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2001.
Wrote five chapters for this middle school textbook.
Biology for Students, Robinson, R. (editor): MacMillan Reference USA, 2001. Contributor to this
high school encyclopedia.
Asking About Life, Tobin and Dusheck, Saunders College Publishing, 1998 Lead author on the
first edition. Work included writing all chapter opening stories, writing half the text from scratch,
heavily revising the other half, overseeing the development of all art, choosing hundreds of
photos, and writing about 800 captions.
Nature of Life, 1/e, Postlethwait and Hopson: Random House, 1989. Ghost wrote three chapters
on plant physiology and rewrote three others on genetics.
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Sample of PERIODICAL PUBLICATIONS
Cheap Vaccine Slows MS Progression. MS Discovery Forum, 6 December 2013
The Cancer Whisperers. Discover magazine, in press
Guest blogging at Last Word on Nothing
Parody: Family Man Who Invented Relativity and Made Great Chili Dies.
What the Baculum Said.
Getting Physical. Nature, 22 November, 2012
The Interpretation of Genes. Natural History, September-October, 2002
It’s the ecology, stupid! Nature, 18 July, 2002
Female primatologists confer without men. Science, 28 September 1990
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HONORS AND AWARDS
2005
2004
1999
1990
1990
1988
1988
1988
1981
1981
1969
Excellence Award for Tobin & Dusheck, Asking About Life, 3/e
Textbook and Academic Authors Association
Scholarship to attend NIH course on culturing human embryonic stem cells at the
Burnham Institute, La Jolla, CA
Excellence Award in Life Science for Tobin & Dusheck, Asking About Life, 1/e
Textbook and Academic Authors Association
Bronze Medal Award for Newsletter Publishing National Council for the Advancement
and Support of Education (CASE)
Bronze Medal Award for Periodicals for Special Audiences National Council for the
Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
Gold Medal Award for Periodical Special Issues National Council for the
Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
Silver Medal Award for Newsletter Publishing National Council for the Advancement
and Support of Education (CASE)
Silver Medal Award for Student Involvement Programs National Council for the
Advancement and Support of Education (CASE)
Research grant from Sigma Xi in support of graduate thesis research
Jastro-Shields scholarship for an outstanding graduate research proposal from UC
Davis’s College of Agriculture and Environmental Studies
Gold Medal, Long Jump, 13’ 7 1/2”, San Francisco Girls’ All-City Track Meet
4 __________________________________
VOLUNTEER WORK
2012-14
Chair, National Association of Science Writers Freelance Committee
2005-2014
Member, NASW Freelance Committee
• Built an online database of writing contracts called The Fine Print (2013)
• Helped plan and execute a database of completed jobs for freelance science writers.
• Hired an editor for the NASW Freelance website. From writing the ad to passing on our
recommendation to the national Board took less than three weeks.
• Designed on an online survey of the NASW membership
• Book prize judge for NASW's Science in Society Journalism Award
• Award Committee, NASW Science and Society Award for Web Publications
2012-2014
Co-founder of What to DO About Climate Change, a Facebook page that offers daily, easy-to-do
actions to fight climate change. We present a range of strategies for broad appeal.
2002-2014
Santa Cruz County Science Fair, County Office of Education
• Regular volunteer Judge, Santa Cruz County Science Fair
• Chair of Zoology section 2010-2014
• Chair of Physics section 2009
• Worked with the County Science Fair Coordinator to improve judging and bring scientist
advisors into the schools to help children improve science fair projects and gain a better
understanding science.
• Counseled individual children at Mission Hill Middle School to help them improve their science
fair projects.
2006-14
Member, Award Committee, Text and Academic Authors “Texty Award” for excellence in Life
Science
2008-10
Kirby Preparatory High School Green Committee
Worked towards accrediting the school as a Green School. I proposed ways the school could
reduce its overall carbon footprint and electric bill, including using timers and reducing the
number of all-night parking lot lights. I worked with Ecology Action’s energy audit; researched
the school’s HVAC system and made a list of changes that would improve efficiency, from
replacing the rooftop fans to putting water heaters on timers. I researched funding and helped
apply for a lighting retrofit grant to reduce the school’s energy use. Promoted a successful school
sponsored carpool program with the school administration.
2003-04
Science Teacher at Delaveaga Elementary School, Santa Cruz, CA
I designed an original and successful curriculum for 5th graders that conformed with California
state science standards and taught children the basics of energy transfer, atoms and molecules,
5 photosynthesis, and sugar metabolism. I team taught the curriculum with a member of the faculty
of the UCSC Science Illustration Program. Children observed and drew everything from
molecules to elephant seals.
1972-1978
San Francisco Sidewalk Astronomers Board member, newsletter editor, active member
I helped transport, set up and operate large portable telescopes (up to 24” mirror) in national
parks, on city streets, and at museums to show the public celestial objects such as planets and
galaxies. Significant science communication, with no script.
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PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Authors Guild
Forest Landowners of California
National Association of Science Writers
Northern California Science Writers Association
Pacific Media Workers Guild, Freelancers Unit
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SKILLS
Project management
Writing, especially stories about the history of science
Editing at all levels
Desktop publishing
Art development/working with illustrators
Curriculum development
Wikis
Facebook
Microsoft Office
Google docs
Mostly Mac, but some knowledge of Windows
Basic WordPress web building
Basic graphic design
Basic digital photography
Basic data mapping (two workshops)
Basic museum curatorial work
Basic recording (one workshop)
Hobbies and non-writing pursuits.
I am a life long hiker. I like to climb tall mountains and am the type of person who stops to look
at plants I don’t recognize, salamanders, lizards, and road kill. I rescue banana slugs and wood
rats. I built a Dobsonian sun telescope, including grinding the parabolic mirror by hand from a
piece of porthole glass, rebuilt the engine on a 1973 Norton Commando motorcycle, and
commuted between Berkeley and Davis on the same motorcycle for two years. I can wield a
chainsaw, dig out ditches and maintain culverts. I own 47 acres of commercial redwood forest.
6 PhD Equivalency
Many people are ABD. But I am all but PhD. As an undergraduate at Berkeley, I regularly
attended seminars and meetings of the then brand new Evo Devo Club. After graduation, I
worked for two years, doing barely supervised research at UC Berkeley and continued attending
seminars and auditing science courses. I attended graduate school at UC Davis for three years,
including six quarters of statistics, an independent research project that involved both lab and
field work, and a highly statistical 66-page thesis. As a TA, I ran my own classes for six quarters,
teaching introductory zoology, developmental biology, and comparative morphology of
vertebrates.
After grad school, I worked as a Step II Staff Research Associate at UC Berkeley, in two different
developmental biology labs (John Gerhart's and then Ray Keller's). I was working on a NASA
grant to develop a protocol for sending Xenopus laevis embryos into space. (The question was
about body axis development at microgravity.) I developed and wrote the protocol and repeated
the work at NASA's Moffett Field research lab. Because of the Challenger explosion, the date for
the launch of this experiment was long delayed, but our developing tadpoles did eventually make
it into space.
I spent 15 years working as the lead author on the college biology textbook Asking About Life,
with coauthor Allan J. Tobin. Allan was Director of UCLA's Brain Research Institute. My
expertise in ecology, evolution, and developmental biology complemented Allan's expertise in
cell biology, neuroscience, and biophysics. I made final content decisions, set deadlines for us,
and did nearly all of the writing. In part because of our different intellectual backgrounds, in part
because I always wanted to completely understand everything I was writing about, Allan and I
had hundreds of animated conversations. We talked about genes versus environment, the meaning
of the word "model," prions, endocrine disrupters, and many other topics that were still new in
the 1990s. We always found a solution to our intellectual differences. Along the way, I also
discussed and argued biology with dozens of expert reviewers. Coupled with my lab and field
experience, devoting that amount of time to getting the biology right means I have a highly
developed understanding of the science of biology.
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