About Me
Motivation
I'm an editor, proofreader, and indexer specializing in science and education documents. I work with curious, ambitious people from academia, nonprofits, and businesses to help them get their big ideas out into the world.
Throughout my career, I've been drawn to roles where I can support other people. I love being an advocate and cheerleader for others, especially in academia, where I spent the first part of my career. Doing creative work is hard, and that work is subjected to constant evaluation and criticism. You don't need more of that. You need someone who will help you and your work to soar, and remind you that you're doing a great job. That's where I come in.
My Story
I began my career as a chemist, earning a BS degree from Indiana University and an MS degree from the University of Michigan. But I discovered that doing synthetic organometallic chemistry wasn't for me, and partway through graduate school, I switched to doing geochemistry. In 2013, I earned my PhD in earth and environmental sciences from the University of Michigan. My research focused on diatom productivity and trace metal accumulation in ocean sediments. I had some pretty amazing adventures along the way.
Visiting Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand, on a field trip. I loved the field aspects of being a geoscientist.
Driving the winch on the R/V Sproul off the coast of Santa Barbara, California. Apparently I am a good winch driver.
After a postdoc and a teaching stint, I became the project manager and de facto editor-in-chief for an initiative called Michigan Sustainability Cases, or MSC. MSC produced multimedia case studies for sustainability education, and I was responsible for leading case teams through the production process. Along the way, I discovered that I loved helping students to develop their ideas and see them take flight as polished, professional products. I was always a good writer, but in this role I grew into being an editor.
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When MSC's first iteration wrapped up in 2020, along with its first grant, it was time for me to hand over leadership to my very capable successor and strike out on my own. To start, I leaned into my experience as a writer and editor. Then a fortuitous Google search introduced me to indexing, which I was excited to add to my skill set. And Two Eyes was hatched.
Prior to graduate school, I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa, where I was fortunate to be able to do some traveling and learn to speak Setswana. That experience gave me a lot of respect for the hard work it takes to function in a language and culture not your own. Outside of work, I enjoy swimming, martial arts, generally being outside, and taking advantage of various activities in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is the place I call home.
True story: I rode an ostrich while serving in the Peace Corps.
Training & Experience
Training:
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BS Chemistry, Indiana University
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MS Chemistry, University of Michigan
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PhD Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan
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Certificate in back-of-​book indexing, American Society for Indexing
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Various webinars, conferences, and books to hone and expand editing and indexing skills
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Editing Experience:​
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Grant proposals submitted to NSF, NIH, and several foundations
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Educational case studies for graduate and undergraduate students
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General user proposal submitted to the Advanced Photon Source
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PhD dissertation
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Guest co-editor for special issue of the journal World Development Perspectives​
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Indexing Experience:
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Various practice indexes created for indexing course
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Writing Experience:
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Scientific research articles and commentaries published in academic journals
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Biographical encyclopedia articles for an educational publisher
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Educational case study created for SESYNC and the Gala learning platform
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Grant/funding proposals submitted to university departments and external funders such as NSF
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General user proposal submitted to the Advanced Photon Source
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How-to guide for writing a case study published as part of the Gala platform's help documentation
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Service:
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Volunteer Manager for the Academic Editing Chapter of EFA
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Webmaster team member for ASI
Why Two Eyes?
When I started freelancing, I didn't know what I wanted the name of my business to be. Forced to choose a name on the spot, I called myself Meghan Wagner Editing Services. So boring, but a sufficient placeholder. Then the junk mail started arriving for Meghan Wagner Editiing Services. That's right, "Editiing." I figure there must have been a clerical error, and as an editor I now had a misspelled business name! What to do? I accepted those two i's and became Two Eyes Editing and Indexing.
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The owl logo was an obvious choice for me. In Western culture, owls are associated with wisdom and knowledge.
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In ancient Greece, an owl was the symbol of the goddess Athena. The silver tetradrachm of Athens is one of the most famous coins from the ancient world, shown in this image with the head of Athena on the obverse and her owl on the reverse.
Ready to work together? Let's connect.