Jose Burgos is originally from Ecuador. He has lived in the United States since 1988 and received a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Iowa in 1995. He has worked as a full-time interpreter and translator for several Fortune 500 companies as well as many government and non-profit organizations. At TranslationPal, Jose handles the aspects of project management and quality control.

Jodie has a master’s degree and twenty-four years’ experience as an English teacher, plus two years as a librarian. She has been running her own editing and proofreading business full-time since 2007, and part-time before that. Jodie has been a voracious reader since her early childhood, reading nonfiction for information and fiction for entertainment. Besides her work for Proofreading Pal, Jodie is the copy editor for two high-quality magazines, and is also a freelance book manuscript editor. She also enjoys music, gardening, and entertaining her friends in her backyard.

Thomas Dean received a Ph.D. in English from The University of Iowa. He is Special Assistant to the President for Communications and Research at the UI and teaches interdisciplinary courses there. He has taught writing, literature, and interdisciplinary subjects at Cardinal Stritch College (Milwaukee), Michigan State University, and Moorhead State University (Minnesota). Tom has published essays in regional and national publications. Books include The Grace of Grass and Water: Writing in Honor of Paul Gruchow (edited collection, Ice Cube Press, 2007) and Under a Midland Sky (essays, Ice Cube Press, 2008). He has edited and proofread for Ice Cube Press and the Minnesota Historical Society Press, and he has served as manuscript reader for numerous academic journals and publishers. Tom is married with two high-school-aged children who are active in band and other music activities. The family also includes three rescued and retired racing greyhounds.

Maggie Votroubek has an MA in English Literature from The University of Northern Iowa, as well as a BA in English Teaching (grades 7-12). She taught as well as tutored many junior high and high school students about the writing process. Teaching allowed her the opportunity to score thousands of standardized essay tests ranging in age from 4th grade to the high school ACT. Maggie's most recent work was as a full-time proofreader of standardized test booklets, teaching manuals, pamphlets, and on-line documents. However, she considers her most exciting new project to be taking care of her one-year-old daughter, Louise.

Chris was born and raised in a small town in Connecticut. During high school and his early college years, he played bass with several jazz, funk and rock groups. He caught the writing bug while at Purchase College and co-edited the Purchase Record, the little indy weekly that could. After graduating in 2005, he became a reporter for the New Haven Register, covering local government, business and features in the shoreline town of Milford. Since then he's written for a number of publications as a freelance journalist and sales copywriter, including The Iowan, SEO Copywriting, The Iowa Source, Westport Magazine, and Milford Living Magazine. He is currently an education student at the University of Iowa.

Melanie grew up in the suburbs of Rochester, N.Y. She fell in love with literature during her years as an undergrad at Purchase College, graduating in 2006 with a dual degree in Literature and Journalism. In 2007, she dragged herself, her hubby, her pet rabbit, and several hundred well-loved books across the country to Iowa City—all for the chance to study English at the University of Iowa. She received her M.A. in English in 2010, and is currently working toward a M.A.T. in English Education.

Lisa has a PhD in English. She has worked in higher education for over ten years, teaching literature, composition, and technical writing. She also works as a technical writer. She is an avid reader and passionate about education.

Matt Lavin is a doctoral candidate in English at the University of Iowa. He earned a master’s degree in American studies at Utah State University in 2006 and a bachelor’s degree from St Lawrence University in 2002. His eight years’ experience as a professional and freelance copyeditor has included positions at the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, The Lake Placid News, and Western American Literature. As a paid freelancer, he has copyedited book-length manuscripts, scholarly articles, creative writing submissions, and many websites or web based projects. He won the University of Iowa English Department’s 2011 award for best graduate student essay published in a peer reviewed journal and the Western Literature Association’s 2008 J. Golden Taylor Award for best graduate student paper at the association’s annual conference.

Jennifer Zoble is a multimedia essayist, editor, translator, and educator currently working toward dual MFAs in nonfiction writing and literary translation at the University of Iowa. The founding co-editor of InTranslation, an online journal of literary translation affiliated with The Brooklyn Rail, she also served as the Rail's assistant fiction editor from 2004 to 2008. She holds a previous master's in teaching from The New School and a BA in theater studies from Wellesley College. At UI, she's taught General Education Literature and Introduction to Creative Nonfiction, and in New York City, she worked with middle school, high school, and college students as a classroom teacher, curriculum developer, internship coordinator, and arts education program director. She translates from Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, and her current essay projects use text, image, and sound to explore themes of language and place.

Andrea Rosenberg is an editor and a translator from Spanish and Portuguese. She holds an MFA in literary translation and an MA in Spanish from the University of Iowa. As editor and translator, she specializes in literature, literary and film criticism, history, and art history. When not mucking about with language, she loves cooking and traveling.

Rebecca Clifford is a Linguistics M.A. student at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. She has served as copy editor for the Journal of Language Documentation & Conservation since 2010 and also works as a production assistant at University of Hawai'i Press. Rebecca was elected President of the Linguistics Society of Hawai'i for 2011-12. She grew up in beautiful Northern California, where she earned a B.A. in Linguistics and a Certificate in Literary Editing and Publishing from California State University, Chico. Her undergraduate education was complemented by two years of work for the English Department as a writing workshop facilitator and writing assistant.

Gail Lennon is a writer with over thirty-five years teaching experience in educational settings ranging from kindergarten to college and university. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, an Honors Bachelor of Education in reading and a Master’s of Education in guidance and counseling. She loves to travel and divides her time between Ontario and Florida.

Megan Green was born and raised in Oneonta, NY. As the child of two teachers, her love for learning and education developed at a young age. She attended Penn State University where she earned her BA in Political Science. Upon graduating in 2005, Ms. Green moved to St. Louis to participate in the Coro Fellows program in Public Affairs. After completing Coro, Ms. Green then decided to teach in St. Louis Public Schools through the Teach for America program. This experience allowed her to teach Language Arts and Science. Presently, in addition to her work with TranslationPal, Megan is also the Executive Director of Active Minds Charter School, an elementary school which will be opening in the summer of 2011 in St. Louis.

Tom McLaughlin was born, raised, and lives in Iowa. He is married and a father of three boys, ages 7, 5, and 1 ½. He is a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa with a B.S. in English Literature. Tom is currently studying at South University Online working toward a degree in Criminal Justice. He is currently a reporter for the Highland Review in Riverside, Iowa. Tom hopes to be a published novelist and work with juveniles within the criminal justice system. He likes to spend his time playing with his boys, reading, writing, and watching movies.

Katie Lind has a BA in English from the University of Iowa, with a concentration in Creative Writing. She has traveled abroad with the Creativity Workshop to Dublin, Ireland. Katie enjoys writing fictional short stories, but often times finds it easier to draw upon her own life's adventures when writing. She continues to learn about the craft of writing by taking online writing workshops. Also an avid reader, Katie enjoys reading collections of short stories and memoirs. She lives in Champaign, Illinois and enjoys spending time reading and journaling at the many sidewalk cafes in the downtown area. She is currently employed by Carle Hospital as a project management assistant in their facilities department. Katie also enjoys baking, taking long walks, hosting dinner parties, and watching movies.

Susan first recognized her interest in words and grammar in the third grade. Since then, she has traveled widely, attended Boston University and the University of Iowa, married, and worked in medical transcription, event planning, construction, art consulting, and freelance editing. Working for over ten years with a local historic preservation firm, she edited hundreds of archival documents distributed to individual, city, county, and state clients. She appreciates the variety and creativity of editing and usually learns something from each text. Susan lives in Washington State with her husband, Chris, and also enjoys studying jazz piano, painting portraits, yoga, and dance.

Erin was born and raised in east-central Illinois. As an adult, she has lived in Northern and Southern California and southern New Mexico. After 20 years, she returned to Illinois and has lived there for the past 16 years. Erin worked as an in-house assistant editor for a midsized publishing company in Champaign, Illinois, where she learned about the publishing industry and honed her proofreading and copyediting skills. For the past 14 years, Erin has been self-employed as an editorial freelancer working for several publishers and professional organizations, including McGraw-Hill Professional and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Mike Kielkopf has spent 10 years as an award-winning daily newspaper reporter and editor, highlighted by receiving first place in the U.S. in the William Allen White opinion writing competition. He has also worked for more than 20 years as a high school and college writing and literature instructor and freelance writer. He has published more than 10,000 newspaper and magazine articles and six books, including the first novel ever published about the University of Iowa’s Nile Kinnick (2006). Mike holds an M.A. and a B.A. from the University of Iowa and is married to the former Mary Guernsey of Waterloo, who is also an Iowa grad. Their son, Matt, works as a sound editor for an Academy-Award winning studio in Hollywood. Mike and Mary have taught in American international schools in South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Venezuela, and Saudi Arabia, traveling nearly one million miles, visiting more than 30 countries and working with students from more than 70 nations. And they have worked with Habitat for Humanity in India, Hungary and the Philippines.

Amber has a B.A. in Philosophy and German from St. Olaf College and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Iowa. She is currently employed as a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Konstanz in Germany, where she teaches philosophy in both English and German. Amber has over 10 years of teaching experience in the Humanities and has served as a translator and copy-editor for graduate students and professional academics in Germany and elsewhere. As a freelance proofreader and copy-editor for Buckle Down Publishing, she learned how to thoroughly and efficiently edit various types of texts, and as a University instructor, she has learned how to tailor her comments to the author's particular needs. When she's not teaching, grading, editing, or working on various grant proposals, she can be found hiking in the Swiss Alps or respectably enjoying a Weinschorle on the Bodensee.

Karen Jackman has a B.A. in Journalism (Bachelor Honours Degree). She has worked as a writer and proofreader in the mainstream newspaper and magazine industry for more than 20 years. She is also a published author and an online health and travel writer.

Barbara Smith has an Honours Bachelor of Arts in French and German and an Honours Bachelor of Education. Barbara taught English, French (core and immersion), and German for 31 years; she enjoys reading a wide variety of subjects in all three languages. Barbara's many interests also include running, swimming, cycling, triathlon, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, kayaking, teaching Pilates classes, and gardening.

Brian Kaldenberg has over seven years' experience in eCommerce business management. He holds a B.S. in Marketing and is a graduate of Iowa State University. Brian has started several successful online businesses. He accredits his success to "hard work and customer service."

Greg has more than ten years' experience as a successful business leader. He holds a B.S. in Finance and is a graduate of the University of Iowa.

Sasha has over 10 years of customer service and business management experience, and is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a B.A. in English. She is also employed at the University of Iowa College of Law in addition to her work with TranslationPal, and she is very passionate about providing the best possible service to our clients and translators alike.