Education
Joy studied agriculture at Aberystwyth, University of Wales, UK. After graduating she worked on a research dairy farm in North Nigeria, then returned to Aberystwyth University to do a PhD on grassland agronomy. After being awarded her PhD, Joy went to Texas A&M, USA, for a post-doctorate, working on new ways of testing digestibility in forages.
Practical experience
Joy grew up on an organic farm in southern England. The farm, managed organically from the mid 1960s, was the seventh holding in Britain to be "registered organic" after organic standards and certification were introduced into the country.
After her university studies and post-doctorate research in Texas, USA, Joy was the Natural Resourses Specialist at the University of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean from 1984 to 1989.
Since 1989, Joy and her husband, Michael, have run a small nursery in England from which they manage three enterprises:
- Peppers by Post (www.peppersbypost.biz): Fresh chillies sold – when in season – by mail order . Joy and Michael also devote time to breeding chilli varieties for their seed business.
- Sea Spring Seeds(www.seaspringseeds.co.uk): Selling a range of herb and vegetable seeds for the retail trade.
- Sea Spring Photos (www.seaspringphotos.co.uk): Selling images of vegetables for publication in magazines, books, websites, etc. Many images are of registered organic produce.
Joy is an "organic expert witness" for the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS), the accreditation body that oversees the British organic certification bodies.
Editing and publishing experience
Joy has worked in the publishing business since 1994.
- 1994-1999: Editor of the Soil Association producers' magazine, New Farmer and Grower (later renamed to Organic Farming).
- 1994-2000: Freelance editor/proofreader for New European, a current affairs publishing company.
- 1998-2004: Editor/typesetter of the IFOAM magazine, Ecology and Farming
- 2001-present: Editor of the monthly international journal, The Organic Standard, published by Grolink.
Since 2004 Joy has offered a freelance editing service (that can also include proofreading and typesetting). Most clients are professional businesses from non-English speaking countries. Joy is able to offer the dual service of editing the work, while anglicizing the foreign tone and idiosyncratic style of the text, typical of authors writing English as a second language.
Contact Joy at joy@englishword.co.uk