Teaching and Mentoring Writers in the Sciences

Bethann Garramon Merkle is professor of practice at the University of Wyoming, where she teaches and studies science communication and scientific writing. She is a transdisciplinary researcher who melds art, writing, and social science research to understand and enhance how we train scientists. She was formerly a science journalist and editor, has contributed to many collaborative book projects, and blogs at School of Good Trouble. Stephen B. Heard is honorary research professor at the University of New Brunswick. He is an evolutionary ecologist and the author of The Scientist’s Guide to Writing and Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider. He blogs at Scientist Sees Squirrel. He has spent many years teaching scientific writing; he still finds it hard, but not nearly as hard as he once did.

• Introduction1. Getting on the Same Page: Understanding and Communicating with the Developing Writer2. What Learners Do with Writing—and How to Get Them There3. Efficient, Productive Writing Feedback4. Writing in the Classroom5. Writing Outside the Classroom6. Teaching and Mentoring Toward Independent Learning7. Sharing the Workload (and the Fun)8. Teaching and Mentoring the EAL Writer9. From Pencils to ChatGPT: Tools to Improve Writing, and Writers10. Writing in a Broader CurriculumAfterword: How Do You Know You’re Doing a Good Job? And How Do You Convince Others That You Are?AcknowledgmentsAppendix: Resources for Writing Teachers/MentorsNotesReferencesIndex

“A treasure trove. . . . As someone who teaches writing to scientists and lots of other people, I can confidently say: this book gets it. Teaching and Mentoring Writers in the Sciences is smartly focused and refreshingly practical. Merkle and Heard understand that writing in the sciences doesn’t happen in a vacuum: It’s shaped by mentorship, institutional pressures, what’s happening in the wider world—and now AI. This book is a lifeline for anyone designing writing courses or struggling to support research students. It offers genuinely useful advice on assessment (a rare feat in the age of ChatGPT), mentoring for process not just product, and clear strategies for giving better feedback (a skill most academics were never taught). The EAL chapter alone is worth the price of admission—insightful and refreshingly non-patronising. What the authors have to say about AI in scientific writing is especially strong—informative, nuanced, and timely. If you’re a research supervisor or teacher who’s tired of just ‘correcting’ student work and wants a more thoughtful way to teach writing, this book delivers.”