Megan Dennis, PhD

Megan is an Associate Professor of Biology at Marist College, where she teaches Cell Biology courses and runs a NIH-funded lab with undergraduate researchers. In the classroom, she uses evidence-based practices to increase student engagement and incorporates research experiences into the curriculum to help students develop their scientific identities. Her interest in biology education began as a graduate student and led her to a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania/CHOP in the Penn-PORT IRACDA program, during which she taught two courses at Rutgers Camden. Her lab uses microscopy-based and biochemical approaches to study protein trafficking events during melanosome biogenesis, and trains students who have pursued PhD, MD and DDS. degrees after graduation. When not in the classroom, Megan can probably be found riding her bike, cooking, or working in the garden. Megan earned her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of New Mexico and a BS in Biology with a minor in Philosophy from Gonzaga University.

Website: www.marist.edu/science/faculty/megan-dennis

Areas of Support

• Preparing for the next step with mentee's career

• Advising on the job search

• Improving teaching

• Managing time and competing priorities

Mentoring Style

• Challenger: This type of mentor pushes mentees, asks hard questions, plays devil’s advocate and makes sure mentees are really focused on their end goal. They are supportive but more firm than other mentoring styles.

• Educator: The educator will take the time to train mentees and help them to learn and develop. This type of mentor stays positive but still pushes mentees to excel.

About Me

I've sat on a couple search committees for faculty positions at Marist, so can give insight to anyone applying to those types of jobs (very different than R1 applications).

Otherwise, I'm pretty chill, which I blame on my west coast upbringing, so I'm probably a good fit for almost anyone with similar career aspirations.