Biography

Megan was born in Brampton, Ontario (Canada) and began her chemistry career at University of Toronto (UofT), completing a B.Sc. (Hons.) degree in 2016 with Prof. Ron Kluger where she focused on site-specific modification of the human protein, hemoglobin. Discovering polymers late in her undergrad (and realizing they were a lot like proteins, just more customizable), she started a PhD project at UofT under the supervision of Prof. Mitch Winnik. Megan’s thesis had the goal of explaining how controlled changes to surface-grafted polymer chemistry affected rigid-rod nanoparticle interactions with cancer cells and tumour tissue models. On top of grad school, Megan worked as a PhD student intern for a company called Vireo Advisors and had many opportunities to collaborate with organizations seeking the best evidence to support decision making about emerging sustainable materials and bioproducts. In 2021, Megan was awarded her doctorate in Polymer & Materials Chemistry.

After achieving her PhD, Megan moved to New Brunswick to teach Organic Chemistry as a sabbatical replacement at Mount Allison University (MtA). This year working at MtA was extremely motivating and having the opportunity to supervise three exceptional undergraduate student research projects inspired her to pursue postdoctoral research. So, in 2022, Megan crossed Canada and took up a postdoc position at the University of British Columbia (UBC)-associated Bioproducts Institute under the supervision of Prof. Emily Cranston. There she learned to exploit the potential of the emerging, Canadian, polymeric material called nanocellulose for many different applications. On January 1, 2025 Megan began her independent career as an Assistant Professor at Western University.  

​Outside of lab, Megan enjoys cooking and traveling to new places with her partner, Fred. She’s also a big nerd, loves reading for fun and even runs a Dungeons & Dragons campaign!