PhD in English, Concentration in Writing Studies | 2024
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of English and the Center for Writing Studies
Dissertation: “‘Anyone Can Be a Scientist’: The Construction of Expertise and Citizenship in Citizen Science Literate Activity”
Committee: John Gallagher (Chair), Paul Prior, Josue David Cisneros, Melissa Littlefield
MFA/MA in Creative Writing & English | 2017
University of Alaska at Fairbanks, Department of English
Thesis: “Sparks Across the Gap” (Creative Nonfiction Essay Collection) & “The Malleability of Disciplinary Identity” (Pedagogical Case Study)
BA in English & Psychology | 2014
Western Carolina University, Department of English & Department of Psychology
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Mericle, Megan, Coleman, John P., & Zilles, Julie L. (2025). STEM faculty focus groups respond to student writing and learning goals: Entry points and barriers to curricular change. The WAC Journal, 35, 95-122. https://doi.org/10.37514/WAC-J.2024.35.1.05
Kovanen, Bruce, Turnipseed, Nicole, Mericle, Megan, & Roozen, Kevin. (2022, November 4). Tracing Literate Activity across Physics and Chemistry. WAC/WID integration in STEM. [Special issue on STEM and WAC/WID: Co-Navigating Our Shifting Currents] Across the Disciplines, 19(1/2), 62-77. https://doi.org/10.37514/ATD-J.2022.19.1-2.05
Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings
Carzon, Patrick, Raley, Jessica, Mericle, Megan, Coleman, John P., Zilles, Julie L. (2024). Mapping writing concepts across an undergraduate physics curriculum. ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. https://peer.asee.org/mapping-writing-concepts-across-an-undergraduate-physics-curriculum
Kovanen, Bruce, Ware, Ryan, Mericle, Megan, Turnipseed, Nicole, Coleman, John P., Elliot, Celia M., Popovics, John S., Cooper, S. Lance, Gallagher, John R., Prior, Paul, & Zilles, Julie L. (2020). Implementing writing-as-process in engineering education. ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. https://peer.asee.org/34786
Public Humanities
Guest (2025). Citizen science communication. Lost in the Stacks Podcast. WREK-Atlanta and Georgia Institute of Technology, Episode 628. https://lostinthestacks.libsyn.com/episode-628-citizen-science-communication
Reviews
Mericle, Megan. (2020) Citizen science in the digital age: Rhetoric, science, and public engagement by James Wynn. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 106(2), 219-223.
Mericle, Megan. (2017) Napoleon’s roads by David Brooks. Antipodes: A Global Journal of Australian/New Zealand Literature, 31(2), 449-450.
Mericle, Megan, Gallagher, John, Zilles, Julie. Connecting research writing and writing pedagogy: Examining a STEM writing course across three semesters. Article manuscript drafted, slated for Fall 2025 submission.
Mericle, Megan. "The terms are where all of the problems lie": Citizen science and the power of naming practices in bounding public science rhetorics. Article manuscript in development for Fall 2025 submission.
Marion L. Brittain Postdoctoral Fellow | 2024 – present
Writing and Communication Program, Georgia Institute of Technology
Teach first-year writing and technical communication courses (3 per semester)
Design and implement multimodal assignments centered on critical literacy
Completed seminars in digital writing pedagogy and technical communication
Listed on Course Instructor Opinion Survey Honor Roll and recipient of Thank-a-Teacher certificate through Center for Teaching and Learning in Spring 2025
Graduate Research Assistant | 2019 – 2023
Writing Across Engineering and Science (WAES), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Developed and researched graduate STEM writing course
Prepared grant materials for National Science Foundation and college-level awards
Conducted research on writing practices in Physics curriculum and student organizations
Facilitated and researched faculty writing focus groups in STEM departments
Graduate Teaching Assistant | 2018 – 2020
English Department, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Designed autoethnography and multigenre prompts connecting research to storytelling
Developed upper-division multimodal course on theories and practices of composing
Listed as “Teacher Ranked as Excellent by Their Students” for three semesters
Adjunct Instructor | 2017 – 2018
English Department, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University
Taught first-year writing courses on identity, textual analysis and rhetoric
Introduced students to disciplinary writing practices using writing research methods
Adjunct Instructor | 2017
English, Communication & Media Studies Department, Greensboro College
Guided students through new writing structures and argumentative strategies
Contributed to programmatic assessment of student writing
Graduate Teaching Asssitant | 2014 – 2017
English Department, University of Alaska at Fairbanks
Built a writing workshop environment focused on exploring identity through writing
Developed themed second-year writing courses introducing students to disciplinary conversations in the sciences and humanities
Received the Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award from the Composition Committee
Writing Center Tutor | 2014 – 2017
English Department, University of Alaska at Fairbanks
Supported student writers in individual, group, online and phone writing consultations
Provided constructive feedback across stages of the writing process in a variety of fields
National Grants
National Science Foundation. Division of Undergraduate Education – Improving Undergraduate STEM Education — Engaged Student Learning: Level II. Advancing adaptation of writing pedagogies for undergraduate STEM education through transdisciplinary action research. Julie Zilles (PI). $599,999 | 2020-2023 (As a graduate research assistant, I participated in preparation of the grant proposal.)
Campus Grants
College of Engineering Strategic Instructional Innovations Program (SIIP) Implementation and Exploration Award. Improving undergraduate writing instruction and feedback through professional development of STEM graduate-student teaching assistants. Lance Cooper (PI), Celia Elliott, John R. Gallagher, John Popovics, Blake Johnson, Paul Prior, Megan Mericle, and Julie Zilles. $26,265 | 2021-2022
College of Engineering Strategic Instructional Innovations Program (SIIP) Implementation and Exploration Award. Improving undergraduate writing instruction and feedback through professional development of STEM graduate-student teaching assistants. Lance Cooper (PI), Patrick Coleman, Celia Elliott, John R. Gallagher, Bruce Kovanen, John Popovics, Paul Prior, Megan Mericle, Nicole Turnipseed, Ryan Ware, and Julie Zilles. $26,000 | 2020-2021
Fellowships
Graduate College Block Grant, $11,000 and Gragg-Barr Scholarship, $5,500 (75% teaching release) | 2023-24
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Fellowship (50% teaching release), $11,000 | 2022-23
University Fellowship (50% teaching release), $7,200 | 2018-19
Awards
Course Instructor Opinion Survey (CIOS) Honor Roll, Georgia Tech | Spring 2025
Recipient of Thank-a-Teacher Certificate, Georgia Tech | Spring 2025
Competitive Conference Travel Grants, $62 (virtual) - $350, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Fall 2019, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Fall 2023
Pass with Distinction, Doctoral Qualifying Exam | 2021
List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Spring 2020, Fall 2019 & Spring 2019.
Outstanding Teaching Assistant, Composition Committee, University of Alaska at Fairbanks | 2016-17
Assistant Director of the Center for Writing Studies | 2020 – 2022
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Facilitated and developed writing across the curriculum workshops
Consulted with instructors across disciplines implementing writing instruction
Coordinated presentations and panels featuring graduate students and faculty
Led meetings and mentored Writing Across Media instructors
Organized prospective student events and crafted introductory CWS materials
Redesigned and updated the Center website and social media accounts
Summer Associate Writing Center Director | 2016
University of Alaska at Fairbanks
Coordinated the schedule, serving over 200 students and community members
Created Writing Center advertising and communicated with faculty members
Facilitated the transition to and reports of online record-keeping
Conducted phone and online tutorials with students in rural areas
Tutored students taking preparatory college writing courses across multiple sessions
Georgia Institute of Technology | Fall 2024 – present
Literature, Media & Composition 3403: Techical Communication (3 sections/semester)
English 1101: Literacy and Belonging (3 sections/semester)
English 1102: What Can Games Teach Us about Literacy? (3 sections/semester)
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | Fall 2018 – Fall 2020
Informatics/Writing Studies 303: Writing Across Media (online and f2f)
Rhetoric 105: Writing and Research
North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University | Fall 2017 – Spring 2018
English 100: Ideas and Their Expression I (2 sections in fall, 1 in spring)
English 101: Ideas and Their Expression II (2 sections in spring)
Greensboro College | Fall 2017
English, Communication, and Media Studies 1100: Texts and Contexts (2 sections)
University of Alaska at Fairbanks | Fall 2014 – Spring 2017
English 111: Writing Across Contexts
English 211: Writing and the Humanities
English 213: Writing and the Sciences
National Conferences
“Reimagining failure in alternative assessment through instructors’ positionalities.” Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference. Durham, NH. | July 2025
“Climate change and building local authorial agency through citizen science communication.” Computers and Writing. Athens, GA. | May 2025
“Reckoning with inaccessibility and barriers across WPA and WAC contexts: Starting points for restorative work.” Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference. Atlanta, GA | September 2023
“Observation bubbles and rain gauges: Seeing, sensing, and being in c*science communication.” Virtual poster presentation. C*Science Conference. | May 2023
“Challenging binaries across institutional contexts.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Chicago, IL | February 2023
“Advancing adaptation of writing pedagogies for undergraduate STEM education through TDAR.” AAAS/NSF IUSE Summit. Washington, DC | June 2022
“Participatory science in post-secondary pedagogy: Towards a more equitable STEM writing classroom.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Chicago, IL | March 2022
“Writing across engineering: A transdisciplinary action research approach to STEM writing.” International Writing Across the Curriculum Conference. Fort Collins, CO | August 2021
“Constructing citizenship: Interrogating the norms of civic action in the writing classroom.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Spokane, WA | March 2021 *Accepted before cancellation due to condensed program
“‘All majors and genders are welcome!’: Disciplinary and social identities in academic registered student organizations.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Paper presentation. Milwaukee, WI | March 2020 *Cancelled due to COVID-19
“The rhetoric of DIY biology and citizen science: Feminist possibilities.” Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference. Harrisonburg, VA | November 2019
“Storying: (Counter)narrative as work.” Conference on College Composition and Communication. Kansas City, MO | March 2018
Local/Regional Conferences and Symposia
“Reflections on the Academic Job Market 2023-2024.” Gesa E. Kirsch Graduate Symposium. Urbana, IL | April 2024
“‘I’m like a spectacle’: Seeing, sensing, and monitoring in citizen science literate practice.” Gesa E. Kirsch Graduate Symposium. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | April 2023
“Navigating graduate student identity during COVID-19 across virtual writing sessions.” Write It Out: Writing Innovation Symposium. Milwaukee, WI | February 2022
"The narratives of citizen science." Gesa E. Kirsch Graduate Symposium. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | April 2019
“‘Don’t feed the trolls’: Internet culture and the spiral of silence.” Pacific Rim Conference on Literature and Rhetoric. Anchorage, AK | February 2015
Workshops Led
“There’s Snakes in the Kitchen: Journeys of Failure in Assessment.” Mise en Place: Writing Innovation Symposium. Marquette University | January 2025
“Exploring expertise in writing studies: A mini-workshop on graduate student experiences & mentoring.” Gesa E. Kirsch Graduate Symposium. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | April 2022
“Writing across the curriculum workshop on alternative assessment and ungrading.” Center for Writing Studies. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | October 2021
“Graduate teaching assistant writing across the curriculum seminar.” Center for Writing Studies. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | January 2023, January 2022, August 2021 & January 2021
“Multimodal pedagogy seminar.” Center for Writing Studies. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | July 2021
“Teaching with I Write.” Rhetoric Instructor Orientation. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | August 2019
Campus and Departmental Presentations
“Improving the writing skills of undergraduate engineering students: Empowering engineering faculty and teaching assistants.” Academy for Excellence in Engineering Education Celebration of Teaching. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | April 2021, 2022 & 2023
“Scholar-activism in writing studies.” Center for Writing Studies Brownbag. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | October 2020
“Writing across engineering.” Center for Writing Studies Brownbag. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | December 2019
Public Readings (Creative Writing)
NC A&T Creative Writing Junior Faculty Reading | April 2018
UAF English Graduate Organization Reading Series | 2015 - 2017
Assistant Editor | 2021 – 2022
Best of the Journals in Rhetoric and Composition 2022, Parlor Press
Web and Design Editor | 2015 – 2017
Permafrost Magazine, University of Alaska at Fairbanks
Assistant Editor | 2013 – 2015
Cider Press Review
Editorial Board Member | 2025 – present
Literate Activity: Perspectives on Textual Practices in the World, WAC Clearinghouse Journal
Proposal Review Volunteer | 2025
Conference on College Composition & Communication
Technical Communication Committee | 2024 – present
Writing and Communication Program, Georgia Institute of Technology
Career, Research and Innovation Development (CRIDC) Conference Poster Judge | 2025
Georgia Institute of Technology
Professional Writing Advisory Committee | 2021 – 2024
English Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Writing Studies Committee | 2022 – 2023
English Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Rhetoric Advisory Committee Member | 2018 - 2019
English Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
English Graduate Organization President | 2015 – 2017
English Department, University of Alaska at Fairbanks
Writing Program Assessment Committee Member | 2015
English Department, University of Alaska at Fairbanks
Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric & Composition (CFSHRC)
Association for Advancing Participatory Sciences (AAPS)
Association for Writing Across the Curriculum (AWAC)
Conference on College Composition & Communication (CCCC) Writing & STEM Standing Group