Friday, October 18, 2019
The Martin Family Society of Fellows for Sustainability is a community of MIT doctoral students pursuing sustainability research in a wide array of fields and topics. Each year, approximately ten outstanding students are selected to receive one academic year of fellowship support. Martin Fellows participate in a lively community of students and alumni dedicated to advancing environmental and social sustainability. The first Martin Fellowship in Environmental Issues was originally created at MIT in 1992 by the Martin family in conjunction with the Lee and Geraldine Martin Professorship in Environmental Studies. Lee Martin, who received an SB in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in 1942, established the Martin Foundation in Elkhart, IN, in 1953 with his wife Geraldine and his parents (the Foundation is now located in Naples, FL). Geri, her children and grandchildren continue to be involved with the Martin Fellows program to this day. More than 300 Martin Fellows alumni work in industry, civil society, and government organizations worldwide.
Megan is a fifth-year PhD student in the Climate Science program working with advisor Susan Solomon in the Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Department at MIT. She studies the processes, timing, uncertainty, and impacts of modern-day climate change. Her research makes use of statistical methods to evaluate large ensembles of climate models and observational measurements. One of her focuses is on the global water cycle and its impacts on humanity. In this domain she has focused on how changes in aridity coincide with human populations, the relationship between sea surface temperature and rainfall in southern Africa under climate change, and employing Bayesian methods to evaluate climate models for optimal decision making for water infrastructure in an uncertain future.
Apart from her research, Megan has spent time living in the Democratic Republic of Congo teaching math courses at the Catholic University of Bukavu. She has also consulted for the World Bank in Uganda, contributing to a climate change impacts report and strategy plan. Megan spent four years as a research associate at MIT’s Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change and completed her Master’s in the Technology and Policy Program at MIT in 2012.
Read the announcement on MIT Martin Fellows
Since the creation of the Martin Fellows program in 1997, over 300 women and men, representing all five schools and many fields, have been Martin Fellows. Recent dissertations have included such diverse topics as: aviation emissions, economics of electricity systems, climate adaptation planning games, photovoltaics, coastal vegetation management, and alternative fuel vehicle platforms and market dynamics.
Martin Fellows alumni work around the country and the world. Many teach in universities, while others are CEOs, vice presidents, researchers, and founders of companies, and still others work in government agencies and NGOs.
ESI serves as the administrative home for the Martin Family Society of Fellows for Sustainability.
