Meghan Lybecker, Assistant Professor of Biology, has joined the prestigious UCCS Million Dollar Club for sponsored research. Meghan is the principal investigator (PI) or co-PI on more than one million dollars in research awards from highly competitive federal funding sources including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. She is a molecular microbiologist who studies “the molecular mechanisms that bacteria employ to regulate gene expression in response to changing environmental conditions.” (from her UCCS webpage). Read more below…
Meghan’s research funding accomplishment is especially impressive considering that she was hired as a new assistant professor only 5 years ago. Since joining our Biology department, Meghan has also been teaching courses in cell biology and microbiology, and serving our College on the LAS Research Committee and an ad hoc committee developing and updating College Bylaws, Policies, and Procedures.
In addition to raising the research profile of our college, Meghan has been instrumental in getting students involved in research. Her research grants include dedicated funding for student researchers, and she has already mentored 15 UCCS students in her lab. Meghan began her scientific career as an undergraduate researcher and knows first hand that students’ experience in a research lab can be invaluable. Successful mentorship in a scientific research is vital to career success for both the mentor and the mentee (Related: see this Communiqué article featuring Dr. Lybecker on undergraduate student mentoring).
Outside of the lab and classroom Meghan takes advantage living in Colorado Springs. She spends her free time hiking, running and watching her daughters play youth hockey and soccer.