Mariah A. Knowles

Tiny Earth Curriculum Lead

University of Wisconsin-Madison

About

Mariah A. Knowles is the Curriculum Lead for Tiny Earth at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a self-proclaimed “academic Swiss army knife,” she uses open pedagogy and mixed methods to understand expressivism and human flourishing. Her curiosity extends beyond her degree areas: Computer Science, English Rhetoric, Education Policy Studies, and Information Science. In 2025, she received her Ph.D. from UW-Madison, where she called for a “radical unnarrowing” for belonging and inclusion in the Tech industry in her dissertation “Doing Evil for Money”.

Her teaching is versatile and highly regarded by learners, with a dedication to open, equitable, and human-centered pedagogy. She has presented talks and workshops on evidenced-based teaching practices, interpreting high-dimensional data, defining fairness in AI, and telling transgender stories.

As the Curriculum Lead for Tiny Earth, Mariah brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the Tiny Earth community, including a decade of experience in teaching, curriculum design, and AJEDI. Mariah’s commitment to AJEDI is embedded throughout her work, tied in part to her own identity as a trans woman and her work with community colleges, collaborators, and sexual assault crisis centers. Mariah leads the development of new, evidence-based AJEDI interventions for Tiny Earth and STEM college instructors to use, which she will incorporate over the coming years into the Tiny Earth student guide, instructor guide, and TEPI Training content.

Featured Publications

  • Sarah Miller, Jo Handelsman, Jenny Knight, Sharleen Flowers, Mariah A. Knowles, Cara Gormally, Zakiya Kennedy, Taziah Kenney, Julia Nepper, Christine Pfund, Rebecca M. Price, Rou-Jia Sung, Cara Theisen, Sheela Vemu, and Michelle D. Withers. Scientific Teaching Course. https://tiny-earth.github.io/ScientificTeachingCourse
  • Scianna, Jennifer; and Mariah A. Knowles. “Exploring Variance: Seeking Nuanced Stories Within ENA.” International Conference on Quantitative Ethnography. 3-7 Nov 2024. 10.1007/978-3-031-76335-9_12
  • Knowles, Mariah A.; Amanda Barany, Zhiqiang Cai, and David Williamson Shaffer. “Multiclass Rotations in Epistemic Network Analysis.” International Conference on Quantitative Ethnography. 15-19 Oct 2022. 10.1007/978-3-031-31726-2_5
  • Kim, Yoon Jeon; Jennifer Scianna, and Mariah A. Knowles. “How Can We Co-design Learning Analytics for Game-Based Assessment: ENA Analysis.” International Conference on Quantitative Ethnography. 15-19 Oct 2022. 10.1007/978-3-031-31726-2_15