Melissa Mai, 2025-2026 Congressional Science Fellow

Member Society: American Physical Society

Melissa Mai is a biophysicist and plant physiologist whose mission has been to understand and celebrate the fundamental, physical principles of biological phenomena through interdisciplinary research. She earned her B.A. in Biophysics and Mathematics from Johns Hopkins University and her Ph.D. in Biophysics from Harvard University. Her research draws from math, physics, biology, and materials science to explore how plants leverage their physical architecture to transport materials through their bodies across multiple scales and contexts, including agriculture, forestry, and climate change. An advocate for greater public engagement with scientific research, she has worked with the Harvard Museum of Natural History to make science engaging and accessible through workshops, gallery tours, public talks, and multimedia content. She also completed a residency at Oak Spring Garden Foundation, engaging in conversations between artists and scholars in the humanities to explore the relationships between the botanical arts and sciences and human well-being. By facilitating discussions between researchers and non-researchers, she aims to contribute to a culture that fosters curiosity, wonder, and care for the natural world.