Contact Alyssa

ALYSSA GONZALEZ
alyssacelestinogonzalez@gmail.com | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Highly organized multitasker interested in bringing order to your business’s chaos. I am an
information-oriented analytical mind with an eye toward learning, implementing, and
documenting procedures that help keep organizations running smoothly. I am a bookkeeper, a technical writer, and an organizational whiz. I process and synthesize
information quickly and well, and will fill needs you didn’t know you had.

CAPABILITIES

• Researcher and essayist able to digest and synthesize complex topics and return summaries or research papers to assist, inform, and educate others.

• Technical writer and administrator specialized in implementing and documenting organizational procedures and preparing illustrated instruction manuals.

• Public speaker able to deliver engaging and relevant speeches, panel discussions, and interviews on numerous topics.

• Trained bookkeeper with one year of experience managing the ledgers of a small publishing and editing firm.

• Blogger with over ten years of experience in using web applications and basic web design skills to deliver content.

• Written and verbal proficiency in English & Spanish. Currently learning French.

• Proficient in MS Excel, MS Word, MS Powerpoint, R, Blackboard Learn, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and SigmaPlot.

• Animal husbandry, including fish, amphibian, reptile, mammal, avian, and arthropod.

• Advanced statistical expertise acquired during science Ph.D., including t-tests, principal component analyses, ANOVAs, factorial ANOVAs, and more, in Excel, SigmaPlot, and R.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

TECHNICAL WRITER AND ADMINISTRATOR

• Wrote white papers, corporate blog posts, and research articles on behalf of Talk Science Communications for scientific equipment giants such as ThermoFisher, with five years’ experience as a full-time science writer.

• Replaced my doctoral lab’s protocols with instruction manuals that lay out needed materials, reagents, and steps in an easily navigable order. I added information on why steps look the way they do to facilitate the documents’ use in training new students. I also prepared manuals for my own methods and administrative procedures to make sure that expertise remained with the lab.

• Prepared instruction manuals on product assembly and best practices for JWalker Dog Products, with illustrations and advice, in order to help standardize product manufacture, prevent errors, and train new personnel.

• Devised a new warehouse organization scheme and inventory tracking process for JWalker Dog Products to better track when products are leaving or entering the shop and what happens to them during trade shows.

• Created anti-harassment policy for Centre for Inquiry Ottawa as member of Steering Council, aimed at creating nurturing and safe workplace environment.

• Served on planning committee for Eschaton 2012, a conference celebrating scientific skepticism, rationalism, free inquiry and secular ideals.

RESEARCHER AND ESSAYIST

• I am the author of four research papers published in scientific journals, featuring advanced statistical techniques.

• I have written numerous articles for web sites such as The Humanist, Femme Feminism, Greatist, and Playboy about topics in feminism, humanism, current events, and history.

• I have prepared instructional materials for use with the University of Ottawa courses “Animal Form and Function” and “Introduction to Organismal Biology,” still highly regarded years after my departure from the school.

• I participated in two faculty-led and one independent project in tropical field biology as part of research trip organized by Duke University to Costa Rica.

• List of publications available on request.

PUBLIC SPEAKER

• Keynote speaker, panelist, and otherwise speaking at public events on transgender, race, and feminist issues, including subsequent question-and-answer sessions.

• Interviewed for documentary on transgender experiences.

• List of appearances available on request.

BLOGGER

• Writing paid essays for Patreon subscribers on various topics including transgender issues, nature, social justice, feminism, atheism, history, cooking, and the Hispanic experience.

• List of publications available on request.

AQUARIUM AND TERRARIUM SPECIALIST

• Built, stocked and maintained seven aquaria with fish, turtles, crustaceans, mollusks, and live plants, totaling 250 gallons, as well as terraria containing lizards and frogs.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

TALK SCIENCE TO ME COMMUNICATIONS INC., Ottawa, ON
Lead Science Writer, Bookkeeper, and Editor-in-Training 2019 – 2023
Lead Science Writer 2019 – 2023
Technical and Science Writer 2018 – 2018

JWALKER DOG PRODUCTS, Ottawa, ON
Industrial Production Manager 2017 – 2018

SELF-EMPLOYED, Ottawa, ON
Public Speaker, 2016 – Present
Blogger and Freelance Writer, 2011 – Present
Aquarium & Terrarium Specialist, 2010 – Present

CENTRE FOR INQUIRY, Ottawa, ON
Volunteer 2012 – 2014

UNIVERSITY OF OTTAWA, Ottawa, ON
Laboratory Demonstrator – Animal Form and Function 2010 – 2016
Laboratory Demonstrator – Introduction to Organismal Biology 2009 – 2015
Laboratory Demonstrator – Advanced Techniques in Biosciences 2011

EDUCATION

Continuing Education Courses in Editing
Simon Fraser University, 2023-2024
Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada (Remote)

Intuit Bookkeeping Certification
Coursera, 2023
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (Remote)

Doctorate of Philosophy in Biology, Specialization in Chemical and Environmental Toxicology
University of Ottawa, 2016
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Bachelor of Science in Biology and Marine Science, Minor in Chemistry
University of Miami, 2009
Coral Gables, Florida, United States of America
Magna cum laude, Dean’s List, Honor Roll, Golden Key & Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Societies