Silent Code: Reverse Engineering Technical Writing

Dr. Amelia Herb is a metascientist and educator at the University of Arizona, specializing in STEM writing, rhetoric, disciplinary practice and cognition, and AI communication. With a background researching and teaching across more than 30+ STEM fields, her work explores the social, rhetorical, and neuroscientific dimensions of disciplinarity. She advocates for technologies that support human connection, prioritizing accessible communication centered on equity and human values.

At the University of Arizona, Dr. Herb plays a pivotal role in the institutional adoption of technology and pedagogical innovation. She co-leads the Artificial Intelligence Communications team and the AI Education Training and Infrastructure team. She is currently implementing an interdisciplinary, university-wide Minecraft for Education program. Additionally, she serves as a subgroup lead for the University Wide General Education Committee and co-leads the Compassionate Pedagogy Collaborative Learning Community. Her current research focuses on the intersection of AI and STEM communication, which she explores through her blog, Ars Artificialis, and by leading the AI in Society: Building the Future book club.

Previously, Dr. Herb served as the Assistant Director of Writing Across the Curriculum at UA. Before joining the university, she was a Science Writing Associate at Princeton University’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, where she received AAAS EurekAlert! recognition for her science journalism. She also taught writing in the disciplines at MIT across many fields, including physics, neuroscience, and engineering. She holds a Ph.D. from the Center for Writing Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.