Kerry Schelks

What you do at DTA

I'm the Managing Editor of the Australian Journal of Dementia Care (AJDC).

What’s your favourite part of your job?

Working with the many wonderful people, including people with dementia, professional and family carers and researchers, who submit articles for publication in AJDC, and being able to share their stories, projects and research with our readers.

How would your colleagues describe you?

That’s a dangerous question! I’ve been described as ‘Eagle Eye’ because I’m good at spotting spelling and punctuation errors, so that would be a safe answer. Also cheerful and helpful (I hope).

What’s a usual ‘day in the office’ like for you?

It depends how close our publication deadline is, but a typical day can involve some or all of the following: reviewing, editing and responding to article submissions, liaising with AJDC authors, edition and layout planning and scheduling, scanning Google Alerts for the latest dementia news and resources, inviting article submissions, proofreading pages, liaising with our printers, subscription agency and mail distribution agency to ensure we meet our publishing deadlines, and of course emails, emails, emails ….

What’s your favourite font and why?

Arial, because it’s clear and easy to read – just like AJDC!

Something on your bucket list that you’d care to share?

One day I’d like to arrange all the spices in my pantry into alphabetical order so I can easily find what I’m looking for (that’s a copy editor’s idea of fun). I’d also like to visit Tierra del Fuego National Park in Argentina, but not before I get those spices sorted.