Dr. Meghan Fuzzen
Research Interests
After completing a MITACS postdoctoral fellowship at McMaster University, Meghan re-joined the Servos Lab in October 2020 as a research associate to support COVID-19 wastewater analysis during the pandemic, with a particular focus on tracking emerging variants of concern. She played a key role in developing the N200 assay for SARS-CoV-2, addressing challenges associated with N2 target dropout as variants evolved, and contributed to the development of molecular methods for wastewater-based surveillance.
Her current research focuses on linking contaminant exposure to biological effects in fish using controlled laboratory experiments. She is investigating the impacts of psychoactive substances commonly found in wastewater, including antidepressants, stimulants, and opioids on early life stages of fish. Using model species such as fathead minnow and native species like rainbow darter, her work examines effects on survival, growth, behaviour, and gene expression. By integrating behavioural endpoints with transcriptomic tools such as EcoToxChip and RNA-seq, her research aims to better understand how complex mixtures of contaminants influence key biological pathways and contribute to cumulative effects in aquatic ecosystems.
PhD (Graduated in Nov 2016)
Meghan completed her PhD examining the impacts of municipal wastewater effluent (MWWE) on the reproductive health of rainbow darter, with a focus on endocrine disruption and intersex condition. Her work addressed a key question in environmental toxicology: whether feminization of male fish has meaningful consequences at the individual and population level.
Through a combination of field and laboratory studies, she demonstrated that male rainbow darter with more severe intersex had reduced fertilization success and altered reproductive behaviour, including decreased aggression and spawning activity. Controlled exposure experiments further confirmed that MWWE and estrogenic compounds can impair reproductive performance, linking observed field effects directly to wastewater exposure.
Her research showed that intersex is a reliable indicator of exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds and that high prevalence and severity within a population are associated with reduced reproductive fitness, highlighting potential long-term risks to fish populations in impacted watersheds.
