The Resume

Education:

• Graduated from Forest Grove Union High School in 1964 among the top ten in the class. Member of the Honor Society only during the last semester (having been "blackballed" by a sophomore-year P.E. teacher until then).
• B.A., Reed College, Portland, Oregon (Biology major). Completed thesis on factors controlling lettuce seed germination under the guidance of Prof. Helen A. Stafford.
• M.A.T. (Master of Arts in Teaching), Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio.
• M.S., University of California at Davis, Davis, California. Course work in plant physiology, biochemistry, and statistics. All but dissertation towards Ph.D. in Plant Physiology.

Some Accomplishments in Program Development:

• Established program at the Oregon Zoology Research Center to collect and analyze blood samples from zoo animals. The research was funded by the NIH to find animal models for human diseases. The results were published (see Technical Publications).
• Carried out a program to characterize the production of volatile compounds by ripening muskmelons, as well as other factors controlling this process. In other research, radiotracers were used characterize the conversion of various substrates to ethylene (a natural fruit ripening hormone).
• Participated in founding the Davis (CA) Food Cooperative, which grew rapidly to fill a former Safeway supermarket within five years. I helped compose and file Articles of Incorporation and By-laws, was a co-manager when the store first opened, and wrote and edited much of the newsletter for the store and the regional association of food cooperatives.
• Participated in establishing a local support group in Davis for KPFA-FM (the world's first listener supported radio station -- when it was first established, they gave away radios with the subscription!). Later served on the Local Advisory Board for KPFA.
• Helped established Citizen Action Press in Davis, publishing the 1979 "Yolo Pages," a community calendar featuring the art of R. Crumb.
• Established Fit to Print, a graphic arts business which I owned and operated for twelve years. This business successfully targeted short-run, high quality offset printing. During the last years I published several books, one of which was a finalist in the Oregon Institute for Literary Arts’ Oregon Book Awards competition.

Technical Experience:

• Boring stuff: Paper chromatography, column chromatography (chiefly for active enzyme preparation), gas chromatography (using glass capillary and conventional columns), PAGE, TLC, gradient centrifuge, and the common extraction and purification techniques of synthetic organic chemistry;
• Radiotracer methods in biosynthesis and enzymatic activity assays; hematologic methods for proteins, trace element, cell components, and dissolved gases; identification of organic reaction products by chemical and spectrographic (IR, UV, and NMR) techniques.
• Computer methods in statistics (mainframe use for multivariate analysis and ordinary methods); database and spreadsheet use on microcomputers; extensive experience in the DOS and MS Windows environments; use of on-line resources (e.g., DIALOG).

Employment:

• Research Assistant, Chemistry Department, Reed College. Synthesis and identification of novel organo-sulfur and -nitrogen compounds. The former were for testing in an anti-malarial drug screening program. Experience with many areas of organic synthesis and identification, including IR and NMR spectroscopy. Supervised by Profs. Marshall W. Cronyn and John E.H. Hancock.
• Research Associate, Oregon Zoology Research Center. Supervision of research work in hematology and dermatology for the Center’s mission of identifying animal models for human diseases. Experience with a variety of laboratory methods for determining blood parameters, including trace metals, dissolved gases, and protein fractions. Supervised by Dr. Luigi Giacometti.
• Research Assistant, Biology Department, Reed College. Research on oxidative enzymes of plant “secondary metabolism.” Experience with paper and column chromatography, both for enzyme preparation and separation and identification of reaction products. Also UV spectroscopy and radio-tracer methods. Supervised by Prof. Helen A. Stafford.
• Research Assistant, Department of Vegetable Crops, University of California at Davis, Davis, California. Research on the physiology of fruit ripening, the biosynthesis of ethylene (a plant hormone) and other volatile compounds in commercially important fruit. Experience with gas chromatography (regular and capillary), radiotracer methods, TLC, and paper chromatography. Supervised by Prof. Harlan K. Pratt
• Currently employed as graphic artist at The Printery in Forest Grove.

Books Published:

• Not On A Silver Platter, Settling the Willamette Valley and Salem, Oregon, 1858 - 1904, Beatrice L. Bliss White, 1989, 498 pages, illus., ISBN 0-9622738-0-5 (case) and 0-9622738-1-3 (paper), Meredith L. Bliss, Forest Grove, Oregon.
• Canoeing in the Rain, Poems for my Aleut-Athabascan Son, Ann Fox Chandonnet, 1990, 38 pages, illus., ISBN 0-9622738-2-1 (paper) Meredith L. Bliss (with Mr. Cogito Press), Forest Grove, Oregon.
• Tracks in Oregon, Poems by Robert A. Davies, Robert A. Davies, 1990,68 pages, illus., ISBN 0-9622738-3-X (paper) Meredith L. Bliss, Forest Grove, Oregon. (Finalist in the Oregon Book Awards contest).
• Mary Vowell Adams, Reluctant Pioneer, Beatrice L. Bliss, 1972, 1992, 256 pages, illus., ISBN 0-9622738-4-8 (paper) Meredith L. Bliss, Forest Grove, Oregon.
• Managing Strategically, 101 Creative Tips, Jerry Tobin, 1993, 128 pages, illus., ISBN 0-9636424-0-5 (paper) for Carrot/Stick Press, Hillsboro, Oregon.
• Guy Carr: A Memoir, The First Fifty Years, Guy Crockett Carr, 1993, 192 pages, illus., (private case-bound edition) Meredith L. Bliss, Forest Grove, Oregon.

Technical Publications:

• Giacometti, L., A.K. Berntzen and M.L. Bliss, Hematologic parameters of the nine-banded armadillo, Dasypus novemcinctus. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 43A: 213 - 217.
• Giacometti, L. A.K. Berntzen and M.L. Bliss, Hematologic parameters of the opossum (Didelphis virginiana), Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 43A: 287 - 292.
• Weber, Y. and M.L. Bliss, Blood chemistry of Roosevelt elk (Cervus canadensis roosevelti), Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 43A: 649 - 653.
• Stafford, H.A. and M. Bliss, The effect of greening of Sorghum leaves on the molecular weight of a complex containing 4-hydroxy-cinnamic acid hydroxylase activity, Plant Physiol. 52: 453 - 458.
• Bliss, M.L. and H.K. Pratt, Effect of ethylene, maturity, and attachment to the parent plant on production of volatile compounds by muskmelons, J. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 104(2): 273 - 277.

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