Melissa Mai is currently an AIP/AAAS Congressional Science & Technology Policy Fellow, working in the Office of U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (AZ) on issues relating to energy, environment, public lands, and natural resources. She received her PhD in Biophysics at Harvard University, where she studied the architectural and physical principles governing hydraulics and material transport in plants.
Melissa is broadly interested in quantitative, physics-based approaches to biologically relevant problems. Integrating theory, benchwork, and fieldwork, her doctoral research explored how plants manage salt, sugar, and methane across scales and ecosystems, from Northeastern wetlands to the world’s driest desert. As an undergraduate in biophysics and math at Johns Hopkins University, Melissa conducted research in experimental and computational biophysics spanning microbiology, structural biology, and cell motility.
Outside of her research, Melissa has served as a mentor for undergraduate students from underrepresented groups as they apply to summer internships, fellowships, and graduate programs. She served as a Science Education Partner at the Harvard Museum of Natural History to introduce both young and adult learners to the weird and wonderful world of plants through classroom visits, workshops, and public talks. She also completed an interdisciplinary residency at the Oak Spring Garden Foundation, where she worked with artists, horticulturalists, and culinary professionals to explore the many ways in which the botanical arts and sciences intersect with the human experience. Her passion project is organizing an annual Fall Bog Crawl to explore and admire the native wetlands of New England. She is an avid fiber artist, dabbling in knitting, crochet, and natural dyeing.
