Megan Frederickson is a Canadian evolutionary biologist who is a professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. Her research considers the evolution of cooperation and the ecological genetics of mutualism.

Early life and education

As a teenager, Frederickson volunteered for a rainforest exhibition in an aquarium. Frederickson was an undergraduate student at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. She graduated in 2001, and moved to the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...

for graduate studies. She joined the Department of Biological Sciences at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

as a doctoral student. Her research considered the biology of ants and plants in the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

Research and career

Frederickson was inducted into the

Harvard Society of Fellows The Society of Fellows is a group of scholars selected at the beginnings of their careers by Harvard University for their potential to advance academic wisdom, upon whom are bestowed distinctive opportunities to foster their individual and intellect ...

in 2006. At Harvard she worked alongside Naomi Pierce on mutually beneficial relationships in ecology. Together they showed that the ways symbiotic host species employ their symbionts is equivalent to the ways employers treat their workers. The process of mutualism involves species such as plants hosting symbionts such as bacteria. Hosts act to reward cooperative symbionts, such as soybean plants directing food toward specific nodules whilst simultaneously killing off those with unhelpful bacteria. Various theories have been proposed to describe such symbioses, including host sanction theory and partner fidelity feedback. Whilst the former describes a scenario in which the host adapts to punish those who cheat and reward those who cooperate, the latter describes a case where the symbionts evolve to try and please the host. Working with an economist, Pierce and Frederickson showed that employment contract theory and mutualisms could be described by similar mathematics. Frederickson joined the

in 2009, where she developed a high-throughput method to better understand the interactions between microbiomes and their hosts. She showed that over time, microbes evolve to develop more beneficial relationships with their hosts. She studied the relationships between ants and their hosts, showing that ants serve to protect their hosts by monitoring the genes responsible for foraging behaviour. These genes decide how the animal forages for food, and how much benefit the partner plants received. When these genes were activated, the ants recruit more workers to attack herbivores, which ultimately protects plans. In 2019, Frederickson returned to

as a medical fellow in the

Harvard Radcliffe Institute The Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, also known as the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, is an institute of Harvard University that fosters interdisciplinary research across the humanities, sciences, social sciences, arts ...

. During her fellowship she worked on a book that explored the concept of mutualism in ecology, and how it can be used to better understand the microbiome. Frederickson has written for ''

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American neo-noir mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert who faces a moral dilemma when his recordings reveal a potential ...

''. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she wrote about how people with caring responsibilities – mainly women – could not simultaneously balance home schooling, online teaching and scientific research.

Selected publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederickson, Megan Harvard College alumni Stanford University alumni Academic staff of the University of Toronto Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American biologists Canadian evolutionary biologists