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Leslie Mertz
(231) 258-5028
e-mail: lmertz@nasw.org
web: www.nasw.org/users/lmertz/
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Writing Samples
For a representative assortment of writing samples or for samples on a specific topic, please contact Leslie Mertz by phone or e-mail. For a quick review of her writing capabilities, the following articles, although limited, are currently available online:
• Science Writing
• Medical Writing
• Environmental/Outdoor Writing
• Technology Writing
• General Writing
• Books
• Additional Web Content
Science Writing — A Few Online Examples
- "Direct Impact" — cover magazine article on the work of the biomedical engineers who make life safer for every person who steps behind the wheel or sits in a passenger seat.
Descriptions of "Research and Programs," including biological and chemical sensors, neurological impacts, smart shunts, micro fuel cells and wide bandgap semiconductors for the website of the Smart Sensors and Integrated Microsystems center.
"Confiscating Arsenic" — cover magazine article on a method that uses plants and yeast to filter arsenic from drinking water.
"Zebrafish Provide Pretty Model to Study Ugly Bacteria" — magazine article about aquarium fish that may hold the answers to some of the most common and deadliest of human pathogens. See pages 17–19 of magazine.
"Let There Be Sight" — magazine article about a team of medical researchers and engineers that is developing prototype implants to return sight to the growing number of men and women with visual impairments.
"Thumbing Through the Encyclopedia of Life" — magazine article on genetics and pre-implantation diagnosis.
"High-Power Imaging Techniques Take Us Inside the Brain" — cover magazine story on advanced brain-imaging equipment and research that has led to new discoveries about depression, anxiety disorder, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease.
"Another Day, Another Knothole?" — magazine article on a scientist/inventor's life and discoveries.
Numerous chapters for Science and Its Times (Gale: 2000-01), which covers the important and often society-altering discoveries of our time.
Numerous chapters for Science in Dispute (Gale: 2002), a book that provides both sides of significant scientific controversies, and their impact on society and life today.
"Let There Be Lumigen" — on a new diagnostic method for AIDS, cancer, hepatitis and other diseases, that was developed from a light-emitting molecule.
"Science Matters newsletter — a college newsletter for a major research university.
Many, many more samples are available on request.
Medical Writing — A Few Online Samples
- Coverage of the research presented at the 2005 and 2006 meetings of the Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Centers.
"Changing the Face of Cancer Diagnosis" — a cover article on a detector for ovarian cancer that experiments have shown to be 95 percent effective.
"Seeking Healthy Sperm: Microarrays and mRNA Used in Male Fertility and Reproductive Health" — a magazine article on a non-invasive screening test for infertility that may offer insight into possible worldwide fertility declines.
"Reducing the Wait-Time for Cancer Assessment" — a magazine article about new radioactive tracers that can tell much quicker (within weeks) whether cancer treatments are effective. See pages 44–47 of magazine.
"Burn Fat Rather Than Store It" — magazine article about entrepreneurial scientists who go straight to the neurons, genes, tissues and proteins involved in obesity. See pages 20–24 of magazine.
"Stopping the Downward Spiral of Pain" — a magazine article on a multidisciplinary approach to chronic pain. See pages 23–25 of magazine.
"The Myths of Drug Use and Abuse" — a magazine article on research into the short- and long-term effects of morphine and other pain-relieving drugs.
"Non-Traditional Pacemakers Synchronize Ailing Hearts" — a magazine article on cardiac-resynchronization therapy in heart-failure patients.
"Cancer Blockers: Research Enlists Patented Protein to Block Gastrointestinal Cancer" — a magazine article on new treatment methods for some of the most dangerous cancers, including colon cancer. See pages 38–39 of magazine.
"Anxiety and Depression Linked to Increase in Cardiac Disease" — a magazine article relating new findings that people with anxiety disorders (about a quarter of the population) are four to six times more likely to experience long-term cardiac problems and to die suddenly from heart failure.
"Gene Therapy Improves Quality of Life for Patients With Hemophilia" — a magazine article on a promising clinical trial that is giving patients renewed hope for success in the battle against this hereditary disorder.
"Facial Pain Alleviated with Specialized Surgery" — a magazine article on the use of motor-cortex stimulation for pain and stroke patients. See pages 26–28 of magazine.
"Kidneys Provide Window to Study Hypertension" — a magazine article about the genetics behind different types of kidney dysfunction, and an individual's susceptibility or resistance to damage from high blood pressure.
"Targeting Defective Cells to Treat Neuromuscular Disease" — a magazine article on adenoviral vectors, and an experimental technique for introducing genes into defective cells with the hope of one day treating a number of neuromuscular disorders, including muscular dystrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
"Paperless Patient Records Advance Care for Pregnant Women" — a magazine article on tailored computer program now used by the medical profession to track patients better and provide improved care. See pages 31–33 of magazine.
Many, many more samples are available on request.
Environmental/Outdoor Writing — A Few Online Examples
- "For the Birds" — on policies of increasing nesting habitat for Michigan's Kirtland's warbler, which was once at the edge of extinction but now is now in the midst of a very strong comeback.
"Were dinosaurs hot-blooded animals" (third essay on the page) — a review of scientific studies on the possibility that some dinosaurs had hybrid (cold- and warm-blooded) metabolisms. This originally appeared in the book Science in Dispute.
Four ecology chapters for a popular, nationally used high school AP biology textbook.
"Confiscating Arsenic" — cover magazine article on a method that uses plants and yeast to filter arsenic from drinking water.
Numerous chapters for Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia, Gale publishing, that describe the biology and natural history of the diversity of mammals, birds, reptiles, fishes and invertebrates. This is a college-level reference. Dr. Mertz's chapters available online include:
- "New World Warblers" on the 126 species in this group of songbirds;
- "Ursidae" on the giant pands, polar bear, grizzly, and other bears throughout the world;
- "New World Porcupines" on the 19 species of porcupines;
- "Moles, Shrew Moles and Desmans" on the 42 species in this group of narrow-snouted, fossorial mammals;
- "Vespertilionid Bats II" on this very large family of bats, many of which live in North America;
- "Alligatoridae" on alligators and caimans;
- "Iguanidae" on the approximately 900 species of anoles, iguanas and their relatives in the Iguanidae family;
- "Percodei I" on perches and darters, North American basses and sunfishes, pygmy sunfishes and temperate basses;
- "Labroidei II" on damselfishes, wrasses, parrotfishes and rock whitings;
- "Beryciformes" on flashlightfishes, squirrelfishes and roughies.
"Isopoda" on pillbugs, slaters and woodlice;
"Diplopoda (Millipedes)" on this large group of many-legged invertebrates;
"Hemichordata" on the group of small, worm-like marine creatures;
"Trematoda" on a group of parasitic flatworms.
Technology Writing — A Few Online Samples
"Computer Science Professor Tackles Internet Conundrums"(see page 5 of the pdf file) — on a new project to tackle online topics, such as halting hackers and making the internet more user-friendly
Technology-related articles for award-winning computing/IT newsletter, Wayne State University.
Articles on transferring museum collections to online format for award-winning computing/IT newsletter, Wayne State University.
Additional samples are available on request.
General Writing — Online Examples
- Website conception, design, editorial content and photography for "Passport to Learning" — on study-abroad programs and how they can open student's minds to the world.
"Dreaming in German" — how study-abroad programs enrich the lives of the student participants
"Think Tank Spurs Action for Underserved People" — a magazine article on an institute that advocates for homeless and impoverished people.
"Continuous Research Funding Is More Than a Modest Feat" — a magazine article about a very modest scientist with a rare record.
Press release for environmental-education program.
Biography of ethologist Konrad Lorenz for Encyclopedia of Psychology, Gale Publishing.
Samples are available on request.
Project Management
Leslie Mertz has dozens of sample newsletters, brochures, booklets, magazines and annual reports for which she has served as writer, editor and project manager. She will provide samples on request.
Books
Authored books include:
- Driving Michigan: Mile by Mile on I-75 (Arbutus Press: 2008), a roadside guide to the history, geology and biology of the places drivers and passengers pass on the road from the Michigan border with Ohio to its northern border with Canada. Driving Michigan challenges its readers and highway passengers to engage with the scenery through interesting facts, legends and a collection of entertaining trivia questions.
Dinosaurs (Hammond/Langenscheidt Publishing Group: 2009),written for kids aged 8–12 and filled with “fun facts, cool full-color images, and trivia to grab your child's attention from beginning to end,”.
Extreme Bugs (HarperCollins: 2007), covering the planet's most unusual and awe-inspiring insects. Includes such topics as behavior, courtship and reproduction, anatomy and physiology, defensive measures, diet, symbiotic relationships communication, social structure, migration and overwintering, and development from egg to adult.
Grzimek's Student Animal Life Resource: Amphibians (Gale: 2005), a three-volume set on the world's frogs, salamanders and caecilians. Directed toward the pre-teen to teen audience.
Grzimek's Student Animal Life Resource: Reptiles (Gale: 2004), a two-volume set on the world's snakes, turtles, lizards, crocodiles and other reptiles. Directed toward the pre-teen to teen audience.
The Circulatory System, part of the 10-volume Human Body Series(Greenwood Press: 2004). Adult non-fiction.
Recent Advances and Issues in Biology (Oryx Press: 2000). Discusses the research that is fueling the field. Adult non-fiction.
Co-authored book:
Extreme Dinosaurs by Steve Parker and Leslie Mertz. An examination of a vanished world, including how dinosaurs lived on Earth for more than 150 million years.
Leslie Mertz • (231) 258-5028 • e-mail: lmertz@nasw.org
website: www.nasw.org/users/lmertz/
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