Her dissertation was titled Conversation Pieces: original poems, with an introductory chapter, "Rethinking Poetic Voice".

[3] In Mackowski's early career, she held adjunct professorships at Seattle Central Community College, from 1995–1996; Roger Williams University, Portsmouth, Rhode Island, from 1997 – 1998; and Stanford University's writing and critical thinking department in 2000.

[3] At the University of Missouri, Mackowski taught in a new service-learning program, exploring how the arts spark social change: When Mackowski taught creative writing and service learning she didn't require her students to write poetry about their experiences.

"In 2010 Mackowski accepted an assistant professor position in the English department at Cornell University.

[6] Mackowski has also been an editor at Reconfigurations,[7] and her work has appeared in Prairie Schooner[8] and The Antioch Review.