Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Jan 2025

Lessons from a “Scholar on Fire” for a World on Fire: A Framework to Position Technical and Professional Communication Scholars for Policy Impact

Heidi Willers

Abstract

Technical and Professional Communication (TPC) scholars and practitioners (TPCers) see a need to intervene in a range of complex problems. Yet scholars such as Leah Ceccarelli and Lauren Cagle have noted a gap between scholarly research findings and policy changes. To address this gap, I theorize a strategic grounding framework, consisting of multiple, linked tactics that over time enable TPCers to make a case to gain a seat at the table to shape policy. I theorize this framework through a case study of Stephen J. Pyne, founder of the subfield of Fire History, who influenced national and global fire management policy. I examine Pyne's professional papers, housed in the Stephen J. Pyne Papers Collection at the Arizona State University Archives. The framework offers TPCers a series of tactics that position TPCers as change makers as they place their expertise to shape policy that addresses complex problems.

Journal
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Published
2025-01-01
DOI
10.1177/00472816231210224
CompPile
Search in CompPile ↗
Open Access
Closed
Topics
professional writing qualitative research
Export
BibTeX RIS

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Hannah et al. (2024)
    Thinking with Keywords: Investigating the Role and Nature of Professionalism Ke…
    Technical Communication Quarterly

References (81) · 26 in this index

  1. Alexander et al. (2021)
    Health and Wellness as Resistance: Tactical Folk Medicine
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. 10.1038/539025a
     ↗
  3. Bekins L. K. (2006)
    Technical Communication
  4. Boyle et al. (2016)
    A Version of Access
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  5. Brady et al. (2013)
    Static to Dynamic: Professional Identity as Inventory, Invention, and Performan…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
Show all 81 →
  1. Brizee (2008)
    Stasis Theory as a Strategy for Workplace Teaming and Decision Making
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  2. Brumberger et al. (2020)
    A Day in the Life: Personas of Professional Communicators at Work
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  3. Cagle (2017)
    Becoming "Forces of Change": Making a Case for Engaged Rhetoric of Science, Tec…
    Poroi
  4. Ceccarelli (2013)
    To Whom Do We Speak? The Audiences for Scholarship on the Rhetoric of Science a…
    Poroi
  5. De Certeau M. (1984)
    The practice of everyday life
  6. Diehl et al. (2008)
    Grassroots: Supporting the Knowledge Work of Everyday Life
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  7. 10.2190/PL1C10
     ↗
  8. 10.2307/j.ctt4cgk3b
     ↗
  9. Hailey et al. (2010)
    Relationship between Innovation and Professional Communication in the “Creative…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  10. 10.4324/9781351203074-11
     ↗
  11. Hannah et al. (2017)
    Cultivating Conditions for Access: A Case for “Case-Making” in Graduate Student…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  12. Harlow (2010)
    The Province of Sophists: An Argument for Academic Homelessness
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  13. Harner S. (2005)
    Technical Communication
  14. Hart-Davidson et al. (2007)
    Coming to Content Management: Inventing Infrastructure for Organizational Knowl…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  15. Henning et al. (2016)
    Reconsidering Power and Legitimacy in Technical Communication: A Case for Enlar…
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  16. Hovde (2010)
    Creating Procedural Discourse and Knowledge for Software Users: Beyond Translat…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  17. Hughes M. (2002)
    Technical Communication
  18. Johnson-Eilola (1996)
    Relocating the Value of Work: Technical Communication in a Post-Industrial Age
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  19. Jones et al. (2016)
    Disrupting the Past to Disrupt the Future: An Antenarrative of Technical Commun…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  20. Kimball (2006)
    Cars, Culture, and Tactical Technical Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  21. Kimball (2017)
    The Golden Age of Technical Communication
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  22. 10.1353/book4993
     ↗
  23. Lauren B. (2016)
    Technical Communication
  24. 10.1146/annurev-environ-040609-105431
     ↗
  25. McNely (2015)
    Knowledge work, knowledge play: a heuristic approach to communication design fo…
    Communication Design Quarterly
  26. Mehlenbacher B (2013)
    Solving problems in technical communication
  27. 10.4324/9781315231501
     ↗
  28. Peterson E. J. (2017)
    Technical Communication
  29. Pflugfelder E. H. (2011). Sustaining knowledge work in student engineering clubs. 2011 IEEE International Pro…
     ↗
  30. Phillips S. T. (2011)
    American history now
  31. Pigg et al. (2022)
    When Extension and Rhetorical Engagement Meet: Framing Public Audiences for Agr…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  32. 10.2307/358914
     ↗
  33. Pyne S. J. ASU Regents Professor Brochure, 2003-2004. Regents Professor, 2003-04 Folder, Box 1, Folder 23.
  34. Pyne S. J. Conference Program, 2000. Andrus Center: The Fires Next Time Conference, 2000 Folder, Box 34, Folder 18.
  35. Pyne S. J. Email to Biology Chair, Nov. 1998. ASU Transfers, 1998-99 Folder, Box 1, Folder 20.
  36. Pyne S. J. Email to Biology Chair, Dec. 1998. ASU Transfers, 1998-99 Folder, Box 1, Folder 20.
  37. Pyne S. J. Fax to American Forests from Pyne, 4 July 1994. Corres…
     ↗
  38. Pyne S. J. Fax to Pyne from NASA Langley Research Center, Theoretical Studies Branch, 1 Dec. 1989. Chapman Co…
  39. Pyne S. J. Letter from Albert J. Simard inviting Pyne to speak at 1997 International Wildland Fire Conference…
  40. Pyne S. J. Letter from Anne Marie Decore, Associate Vice-President to Ian N. Morrison, Dean, approving the vi…
  41. Pyne S. J. Letter from Bob Clark, regarding the inaugural meeting of the Joint Fire Sciences Program Stakehol…
  42. Pyne S. J. Letter from Brennan, 26 May 1995, Tall Timbers Fire Ecology Conference 1995-1998, Box 30, Folder 18.
  43. Pyne S. J. Letter from Len Dems to Bob Clark, recommending Pyne for Joint Fire Sciences Program Stakeholder A…
  44. Pyne S. J. Letter from Life Sciences Editor at Wiley, September 1984, Box 17, Folder 5.
  45. Pyne S. J. Letter from Stine, 10 July 1995, Smithsonian Environmental Film Festival, 1995-1996, Box 30, Folder 17.
  46. Pyne S. J. Letter from Wandschneider, 15 June 1995, Box 30, Folder 19
  47. Pyne S. J. Letter to Bob Clark, seeking appointment to the Joint Fire Sciences Program Stakeholder Advisory G…
  48. Pyne S. J. Letter to Estelle Baird, US Information Agency, 26 March 1996, Flinders University, Australia: Vis…
  49. Pyne S. J. Letter to Joel S. Levine, NASA Langley Research Center, Theoretical Studies Branch, 4 Dec. 1989. C…
  50. Pyne S. J. Letter to US Dept. of Agriculture, 15 Feb. 1984, Box 23, Folder 11.
  51. Pyne S. J. Letter to Warnicke, Chair, ASU Department of History, 1995. ASU Transfers, 1998-99 Folder, Box 1, …
  52. Pyne S. J. Letter to Sara Owen, BBC Inquiry, 1996, Box 31, Folder 2.
  53. Pyne S. J. Memo of Conference Report, March 2001. Andrus Center: The Fires Next Time Conference 2000, Box 34,…
  54. Pyne S. J. National Fire Plan: A Commentary. Congressional Testimony, National Fire Plan, 2001, Box 36, Folder 5.
  55. Pyne S. J. Papers, 1970-2009. MSS-433. Arizona State University: University Archives. Tempe, AZ, United States.
  56. Pyne S. J. Press Clippings. The Ice: A Journey to Antarctica, Reviews and Royalties, 1984-1992 Folder, Box 16…
  57. Pyne S. J. Press Clipping of Banks, Leo W. “Burning Under Control” Sports Illustrated …
  58. Pyne S. J. Press Clipping of Monaghan, Peter. “The Flames of World History: A ‘Scholar on Fire’ Creates a Fie…
  59. Pyne S. J. (2017). Curriculum Vitae. ASU School of Life Sciences Faculty Pages. https://isearch.asu.edu/sites…
  60. Pyne S. J. (2018). Bio. Stephenpyne.com. https://www.stephenpyne.com/bio.htm
  61. Pyne S. J. (2021)
    The pyrocene: How we created an age of fire, and what happens next
  62. Pyne S. J. (n.d.). Pyrocene. Stephenpyne.com. https://www.stephenpyne.com/disc.htm
  63. Read et al. (2015)
    Visualizing and Tracing: Research Methodologies for the Study of Networked, Soc…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  64. Redish J. (2003)
    Technical Communication
  65. Regli (1999)
    Whose Ideas?: The Technical Writer's Expertise in Inventio
    Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
  66. Rice-Bailey (2016)
    The Role and Value of Technical Communicators: Technical Communicators and Subj…
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  67. Sackey (2020)
    One-Size-Fits-None: A Heuristic for Proactive Value Sensitive Environmental Design
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  68. Shalamova et al. (2019)
    Evolving skill sets and job pathways of technical communicators
    Communication Design Quarterly
  69. Shirley B. J. (2021)
    Technical Communication
  70. SLACK et al. (1993)
    The Technical Communicator as Author: Meaning, Power, Authority
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication
  71. 10.1093/jahist/jat095
     ↗
  72. Ted Archive. (2016, November 1). How Fire Shapes Everything | Stephen Pyne [Video]. YouTube. https://www.yout…
  73. Walker K. (2022)
    Climate politics on the border: Environmental justice rhetorics
  74. 10.4324/9780429198748
     ↗
  75. 10.1215/08992363-14-1-49
     ↗
  76. Wojahn P.
    International professional communication conference, 2004. IPCC 2004. Proceedings
CrossRef global citation count: 3 View in citation network → Build reading path →

Related Articles

  1. Computers and Composition Jun 2026
    “Article laundry” or “tutor in pocket?”: Multilingual writers’ generative AI-assisted writing in professional settings ↗
    Qianqian Zhang-Wu
    writing pedagogy teacher development professional writing qualitative research digital rhetoric artificial intelligence multilingual writers
  2. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication Mar 2026
    “It's Hard to Show ROI When You’re Preventing Things from Happening”: How Impact Storytelling Frames Community Health Initiatives for Executive Audiences ↗
    Margaret Hsiao
    technical communication professional writing qualitative research
  3. Written Communication Mar 2026
    Faculty and Administrator Perceptions of Interdisciplinary Collaborative Writing: Practices, Challenges, and Support Structures ↗
    Stephen Carradini; Ed Nagelhout
    collaborative writing professional writing labor and working conditions qualitative research
  4. Business and Professional Communication Quarterly Mar 2026
    How Organizations Can Integrate AI-Generated Positive Communication Into Recruitment Efforts for Gen Z Employees ↗
    Stephanie A. Smith; Michael G. Strawser
    writing pedagogy professional writing qualitative research
  5. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication Mar 2026
    Effective Practices for User-Centered Instant Localization of a Screen Reader Software ↗
    Zsuzsanna B. Palmer
    technical communication professional writing qualitative research