He leads the international programs of the E (Kika) de la Garza American Institute for Goat Research. After receiving his undergraduate degree in agriculture from the University of Illinois in 1982, Merkel spent four years in Thailand as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer and later as a trainer. Merkel received his doctoral degree in nutrition from North Carolina State University in 1994. He joined Langston University as a post-doctoral researcher in 1998 and as a faculty member in 2000.