October 24, 2025 | 4 pm Fürstenzimmer, Hohentübingen Castle
Plastics have transformed modern life. They have provided inexpensive options for sterile medical supplies, packaging for food preservation and light materials to improve the efficiency of transportation. However, dependence on disposable plastic items to maintain busy lifestyles, particularly in packaging, have caused a pollution crisis. Once considered the great benefit of plastics, the long lifetime and chemical stability of these materials make them persistent pollutants in the environment. While global efforts are present to combat this challenge, projections still suggest that productive solutions are needed. Notably, there is no single solution to address all plastic waste. The Fieser Group at the University of Southern California researches ways to improve plastic sustainability through both the synthesis of more degradable plastics to replace existing, problematic materials, and the repurposing of plastic waste at the end of its life into a useful product. Advances in these research thrusts, in context with the global plastics problem, will be discussed.
Bio
Megan Fieser received a B.A. in chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, working with Prof. Bill Evans. She then moved to pursue postdoctoral studies with Prof. Bill Tolman at the University of Minnesota within the NSF Center for Sustainable Polymers. Megan started as a Gabilan Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of Southern California in 2018.
