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ashton w. merck
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ashton w. merck
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Past Projects, Research, Publications ashton w merck 12/22/25 Past Projects, Research, Publications ashton w merck 12/22/25

Standard-Setting & Emerging Technologies

I am fascinated by the ways that regulations structure our daily lives in unexpected ways. This has led me to research topics focused on how standard-setting processes are created, evolve, and respond to emerging technologies or new challenges.

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Past Projects ashton w merck 12/14/25 Past Projects ashton w merck 12/14/25

H-Business Emerging Scholar Interviews

While I was Associate Editor of H-Business, I developed an interview series featuring emerging scholars. I interviewed over 20 scholars over two years.

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Research, Publications, Past Projects ashton w merck 12/14/25 Research, Publications, Past Projects ashton w merck 12/14/25

The Office of Phosphorus

While I was a postdoctoral researcher at the STEPS Center, I worked with Jay Rickabaugh and Kelly Chernin to co-develop an active learning exercise to introduce student researchers to governance and phosphorus sustainability.

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Women, Energy, and the REA Circus
Publications, Past Projects ashton w merck 12/14/25 Publications, Past Projects ashton w merck 12/14/25

Women, Energy, and the REA Circus

I collaborated with Victoria Plutshack, Rob Fetter, and Jon Free to support a team of student researchers to conduct original research on women and rural electrification in the United States.

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Teaching, Toolkits, Past Projects ashton w merck 12/14/25 Teaching, Toolkits, Past Projects ashton w merck 12/14/25

Research Scavenger Hunts

Since 2017, I have used versions of this assignment in every class I teach, to introduce students to research methods in the humanities and social sciences.

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Research, Past Projects ashton w merck 12/12/25 Research, Past Projects ashton w merck 12/12/25

Regulatory Oral Histories

From 2016-2018, I supported Professor Ed Balleisen’s research on regulatory governance by conducting oral history interviews of significant local and national environmental regulators.

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curriculum vitae

ashtonwmerck [at] gmail [dot] com