Writing Specialists

Chris Bickford, STEM Writing Specialist and Lecturer

Ph.D., Biology, University of New Mexico

Chris joined Caltech after teaching plant biology and scientific writing for 10 years at Kenyon College. He invites Caltech students and community members to work with him to develop and refine their scientific writing and communication skills.

Chris earned a B.S. in Botany from the University of Oklahoma, an M.S. in Forestry from Northern Arizona University, and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of New Mexico. After postdoctoral work in the field of plant physiological ecology at Manaaki Whenua (Landcare Research) in Lincoln, New Zealand and the University of New Mexico, Chris joined the faculty at Kenyon College. At Kenyon, where he was an associate professor of biology, his research focused on the role leaf structural traits play in modulating photosynthesis. His pedagogical interests center on facilitating student awareness of their writing process to improve writing and communication skills. He looks forward to working with and learning from members of the Caltech community as they bring their ideas, data, and perspectives into written form.

Erin Burkett, STEM Writing Specialist and Lecturer

Ph.D., Geophysics, UC Davis

Erin welcomes opportunities to collaborate with members of the Caltech community wishing to become better writers and communicators, particularly within STEM disciplines.

Erin earned a B.S. in physics and a minor in art from the University of Delaware while also serving as a Writing Fellow tutor for undergraduate peers. In 2010, Erin completed a Ph.D. in Geophysics at the University of California, Davis, where she conducted computer modeling research of plate tectonic processes. Erin continued geodynamic modeling during postdoctoral research at Caltech while exploring a growing interest in outreach and communication. Outreach collaborations led to a Staff Scientist position with the US Geological Survey where she worked to help improve communication of natural hazards science and earthquake early warning technology.

Through her varied background in both research and communication, Erin has acquired insights and skills that are valuable in working with diverse audiences and disciplines.

Nareen Manoukian, Generalist Writing Specialist

Ed.D., University Southern California
M.A., English, California State University, Northridge

As a multilingual writer, Nareen is attuned to the many different ways in which people approach writing. She is committed to supporting writers at all stages of writing development. She has worked with writers both as a lecturer and in writing centers at the University of Southern California, Azusa Pacific University, in the California State University system, and various community colleges, as well as internationally at the American University of Armenia as a summer research associate.

Nareen holds an Ed.D. from USC's Rossier School of Education, an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and an M.A. in Literature from California State University, Northridge. Outside of academia, her writing interests include narrative nonfiction and memoir.

Josh Schneiderman, Generalist Writing Specialist

Ph.D. Candidate, English, City University of New York
M.A., English, University of Georgia

Josh is trained as a scholar of literature and visual culture but looks forward to working with and learning from Caltech writers from across the disciplines. He previously taught writing and American literature at Hunter College, CUNY, where he also served as Assistant Coordinator of English 220, one of Hunter's core first-year writing courses.

Josh holds an M.A in English from the University of Georgia and is completing a Ph.D. in English at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. An archival reassessment of the New York School, his dissertation examine the ways in which post-1945 poets and artists used "old media" to resist the literary, sexual, and economic imperatives of Cold War American culture. Josh edited The Correspondence of Kenneth Koch and Frank O'Hara, 1955-56 (Lost & Found / The Center for the Humanities), and his writing has appeared in Art in America, Contemporary Literature, Journal of Modern Literature, ASAP/J, Public Books, and The Los Angeles Review of Books.