Megan Gray
As a senior mentor with a double major (policy studies; ecology and evolutionary biology), Megan Gray enjoys mentoring students majoring in English, history, Asian studies, geology, and psychology. She observes that students may be strong in their own disciplines, but they have little experience with scientific writing. The assignments in ESCI 102 expose students to critical analysis, the scientific method, and writing about research. Megan notes, “Students start out with an assignment to pick out key parts of papers and end up understanding the structure of scientific research.”

Mentoring enriches the lives of mentors as well as the students who come for help. Because students write about current and often “hot” research topics, the mentors—who typically continue to mentor until they graduate—are exposed to leading-edge work in biology and earth science. Advising students about writing also improves the mentors’ own critical thinking and writing skills, contributing to success in their future careers.

When she graduates this spring, Megan plans to pursue MD and MPH degrees and eventually conduct research about the effects of environment on health. Her experience with tailoring writing for specific and varied audiences will be valuable in disseminating her findings.

“I especially enjoy watching students improve their papers throughout the semester as they become more confident writers.” – Megan Gray BIOS and ESCI Writing Mentor Megan Gray Photo by Mary Purugganan

Mary Purugganan, PhD, works with the writing mentors who support bioscience and eath science courses.