Megan completed her PhD in 2017 from The Johns Hopkins University (Thesis: Building Resilience Through Design: Improving Post-Earthquake Hospital Functionality). Prior to completing her PhD, Megan completed her BS and MS in Civil Engineering from Brigham Young University with a Master Thesis on seismic steel design (Thesis: Reducing Residual Drift in Buckling Restrained Braced Frames Using Gravity Columns as Part of a Duel System). Before joining the University of Waikato, Megan was an Assistant Professor of Engineering at Southern Utah University (2017-2018).

Megan is a structural engineer focusing on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. She is interested in how buildings respond to natural disasters regarding physical damages and how the organizations within the buildings deal with the damage. She does interdisciplinary research combining structural engineering, public health and sociology. She uses risk analysis, probability, and structural analysis tools to analyze and predict damages to buildings and the subsequent impacts on society. Her research aims to improve disaster preparedness and create resilient communities.