The Team
The Hill group is committed to creating and maintaining a culture of inclusivity and belonging. We recognize that diversity and equity are essential to improve the STEM culture, enable better science, and effectively support each team member. We are dedicated to supporting scientists from diverse backgrounds (such as ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, age, sexual orientation, and culture) by continually educating ourselves, listening to and believing the stories told by marginalized scientists, and advocating for inclusive policies.
Meet the Team
Megan R. Hill
Megan is a synthetic polymer chemist focused on developing recyclable and degradable high-performance materials. Megan first became interested in polymer science at California Polytechnic State University after joining the notorious Costanzo lab (PJC4Lyfe!) as an undergraduate. She then went on to do her PhD in the Butler Polymer Labs at The University of Florida under the direction of Mr. Polymer himself, Brent Sumerlin. During her PhD, Megan developed stimuli-responsive and degradable polymers for applications in agriculture and sustainability. After her PhD, Megan did a short-term JSPS Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Tokyo in the Nozaki Lab synthesizing CO2-based polymers before joining the Johnson Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she developed Lewis acidic polymers for dynamic networks and Li-ion batteries. Megan joined the Department of Chemistry at CSU in 2022.
RESEARCH SCIENTIST
Lance P. Go
Research Scientist
Origin:
Education: PhD in Chemistry, Tokyo Metropolitan University (Kotohiro Nomura), Japan
Likes:
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHERS
Sirilak Mekcham
Postdoctoral Scientist
Origin: Bangkok, Thailand
Education: PhD in Chemistry, Tokyo Metropolitan University (Kotohiro Nomura), Japan
Likes: Traveling, Dogs, Cats, Matcha
Owen Lee
Postdoctoral Scientist
Origin: Belmont, CA
Education: B.S. Chemical Engineering, University of California, Davis (Adam Moulé) // PhD Materials Science and Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder (Ryan Hayward)
Likes: Animals, Hiking, Craft Beer, Board Games, LOTR Movies
4TH YEAR GRADUATE STUDENTS
Alex Claiborne
Origin: Fort Collins, Colorado
Education: B.S. in Chemistry, Colorado State University (Seonah Kim)
Likes: Running, LOTR books, brewing, clementine (the band), motorcycles
Ally Cunningham
Origin: Winthrop, Maine
Education: B.S. in Biochemistry, Simmons University (Nancy Lee)
Likes: Cats, reading, plants, crochet, traveling
Zach Zimmerman
Origin: Elizabeth, Colorado
Education: B.S in Chemistry, Metropolitan State University of Denver (Shailesh Ambre and Megan Filbin)
Likes: Winter, snowboarding, woodworking, hiking, guitar, LOTR games
3RD YEAR GRADUATE STUDENTS
Megan Rothenberg
Origin: Broomfield, Colorado
Education: B.S. in Chemistry, University of Tampa (Christine Theodore)
Likes: Taking my cat for walks, tea, hiking, crafts
2ND YEAR GRADUATE STUDENTS
Macioe Firsching
Origin: Edwardsville, IL
Education: B.S. Chemistry, B.S. Biology, B.S. Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Missouri Western State University
Likes: My rabbits, millipedes, Elsa
Elizabeth Thompson
Origin: Edwardsville, IL
Education: B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Truman State University (Justine Olson, Yohei Norimatsu)
Likes: Hiking, dogs, running, camping, crafts
1ST YEAR GRADUATE STUDENTS
Adelle Kirshner
Origin: Los Angeles, CA
Education: B.S. Chemistry California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Philip Costanzo)
Likes: Music, plants, pottery, hikes, swimming
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
Atlas Quaine
Origin: Unknown
Education: A.S. with a Natural Science concentration, Lake Superior State University
Likes: Partner, water bears, aliens, and long walks on the beach
FORMER MEMBERS
John Estock (2023-2025); M.S. Colorado State University; currently Empirical Labs
Gwen Wilusz (2022-2025); Undergraduate Researcher; currently PhD Student at Princeton University
Curtis Lake (2022-2025); Undergraduate Researcher
Tyler Ryan (2022-2024); Undergraduate Researcher; currently Nuance Chocolate Company Owner
Dr. Ioannis Choinopoulos (2023-2024); Research Scientist; currently Research Collaborator at University of Crete