PhD, North Carolina State University
MA (Co-op), University of Waterloo
BA (Hons), University of Waterloo
Extension: 49135
Email: ashley.mehlenbacher@uwaterloo.ca
Biography
Ashley Rose Mehlenbacher is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in Science, Health, and Technology Communication at the University of Waterloo, where she also serves as Director and Principal Investigator of the Demos Labs. She is the Inaugural Co-Director, alongside Professors Donna Strickland and Lai-Tze Fan, of the Trust in Research Undertaken in Science and Technology (TRuST) network. She received her BA in Literature and Rhetoric and MA in Rhetoric and Communication Design from the University of Waterloo, and a Ph.D. from North Carolina State University, under the supervision of Carolyn R. Miller. She began her faculty career at Purdue University. Professor Mehlenbacher has previously served as the President for the Association for the Rhetoric of Science, Technology, and Medicine (ARSTM) and later as a Member of the Board of Directors for the association.
Professor Mehlenbacher’s research examines the evolution of scientific and technical genres, the role of ethos in building trust, and the ethical implications of communicating complex knowledge across expert and public audiences. She is the author of On Expertise: Cultivating Character, Goodwill, and Practical Wisdom (Penn State University Press, 2022) and Science Communication Online: Engaging Experts and Publics on the Internet (The Ohio State University Press, 2019). She is also co-author, with Christopher Thaiss, of Writing Science in the Twenty-First Century, second edition (Broadview Press, forthcoming) and co-editor, with Carolyn R. Miller, of Emerging Genres in New Media Environments (Palgrave, 2017). With over 60 scholarly publications and more than 160 presentations, guest lectures, or workshops across North America and in Brazil, Denmark, Portugal, Sweden, and other countries, her contributions to the field are widely recognized. Her work has earned numerous accolades, including a 2024 Faculty of Arts Excellence in Research Award, three University of Waterloo Outstanding Performance Awards, and a Distinguished Alumni Award from the Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media doctoral program at North Carolina State University.
Professor Mehlenbacher has co-authored op-ed articles for The Hills Times and The Conversation and been interviewed by Times Higher Education, The Record, and CBC Kitchener. She has delivered public talks for venues including RCIScience and Ingenium. She has been consulted as an expert in science and technical communication, both nationally and internationally, and has contributed to policy-focused discussions, reports, and talks aimed at improving communication practices for scientists and communicators.
Selected Publications
*Please find a full and up-to-date list on Google Scholar.
On Expertise: Cultivating Character, Goodwill, and Practical Wisdom. University Park, PA: Penn State University Press, 2022.
- Reviewed by Metag, J. (2023). Public Understanding of Science, 32(2): 257-258
- Reviewed by Taylor Jr., L. H. (January 2023). CHOICE: A publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries, 60(5).
- The Top 75 Community College Titles: January 2023 Edition, Social & Behavioral Sciences. CHOICE: A publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
Science Communication Online: Engaging Experts and Publics on the Internet. Columbus, OH: The Ohio State University Press, 2019.
- Reviewed by Mitchell, S. S. D. (2020). Canadian Journal of Communication, 45(2): 361-363.
- Reviewed by Roundtree, J. (2020). Southern Journal of Communication, 85(3): 207-208.
- Reviewed by Buntrock, R. E. (December 2019). CHOICE: A publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries, 57(4).
Emerging Genres in New Media Environments. Co-edited with Carolyn R. Miller. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017.
- Reviewed by Smith, T. S. (2020). Canadian Journal for Studies in Discourse and Writing/Rédactologie, 30, 323–327.
- Reviewed by Hinson, K. (2018). Technical Communication Quarterly, 27(4), 380–385.
Selected Fellowships & Awards
2024 Arts Award for Excellence in Research & University of Waterloo's Faculty of Arts
2024 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Titles 2023—Psychology for On Expertise (Penn State UP)
2023, 2020, and 2017 Outstanding Performance Award from the University of Waterloo
2021-2026 Canada Research Chair Tier 2 SSHRC
2021-2023 Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI)
2020-2021 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Science Communication Skills Grant
2020-2023 Robert Harding & Lois Claxton Humanities and Social Sciences grant
2020 Fellows’ Early Career Award from the Rhetoric Society of America
2018-2023 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant
2018 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media program at North Carolina State University
2017-2023 Early Researcher Award (ERA) from the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Science
Current Research
Professor Mehlenbacher is researching rhetorical strategies for describing and deliberating upon complex transformations brought about by innovations in science, technology, and health in a project co-developed with Professor Brad Mehlenbacher entitled “Words for the Metamorphosis.”
Areas of Graduate Supervision
- History and theory of rhetoric
- Rhetoric of science, technology, and medicine
- Rhetorical genre studies
- Science communication, technical and professional communication, engineering communication, climate communication