Megan L. Robertson is a professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

noted for her work in polymer chemistry towards achieving "green birth, green life, and green death" via

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the propert ...

and via biosourced oils and fatty acids to develop new elastomers with the aim of replacing petrochemical sources.

Education

Robertson earned her B.S. in Chemical Engineering at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

working under the direction of Prof. Nitash Balsara. After working at

Rohm and Haas Rohm and Haas Company is a US manufacturer of specialty chemicals for end use markets such as building and construction, electronic devices, packaging, household and personal care products. Headquartered in Philadelphia, the company is organiz ...

(now

Dow Chemical The Dow Chemical Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Midland, Michigan, United States. The company was among the three largest chemical producers in the world in 2021. It is the operating subsidiary of Dow Inc., ...

) as a senior scientist for two years, she joined the group of Marc Hillmyer at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

as a postdoctoral research associate.

Career

In 2010 she joined the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the

, and in 2021 she became a full professor. She has received funding from the Department of Defense to investigate

chitin Chitin (carbon, C8hydrogen, H13oxygen, O5nitrogen, N)n ( ) is a long-chain polymer of N-Acetylglucosamine, ''N''-acetylglucosamine, an amide derivative of glucose. Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature (behind only cell ...

-based bulletproof coatings and leads an interdisciplinary team funded through the Welch Foundation to transform polyolefin plastic waste into useful materials. Her most cited work, which was published in

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

, is a review on the topic of plastics and recycling. She is an Associate Editor at

Macromolecules (journal) ''Macromolecules'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that has been published since 1968 by the American Chemical Society. Initially published bimonthly, it became monthly in 1983 and then, in 1990, biweekly. ''Macromolecules'' is abstracted a ...

and is on the editorial advisory board of the

European Polymer Journal ''European Polymer Journal'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal, established in 1965 and published by Elsevier. The journal is publishing both original research and review papers on topic of the physics and chemistry of polymers. In 2006 ...

. She is a member of the

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), also known as the National Academies, is a Congressional charter, congressionally chartered organization that serves as the collective scientific national academy of the Uni ...

Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology.

Awards and recognition

* 2014 – NSF CAREER Award * 2015 – Kavli Fellow of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

* 2017 – PMSE Young Investigator * 2018 – Sparks–Thomas award from the ACS Rubber Division * 2022 – Fellow of the American Chemical Society * 2023 – National Science Foundation Special Creativity Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, Megan Living people Polymer scientists and engineers Women materials scientists and engineers Bioplastics Biomaterials Fellows of the American Chemical Society Year of birth missing (living people) University of Houston faculty UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni McKelvey School of Engineering alumni