Amy McMackin

Amy's doctoral research is focused on developing novel 'green' solvent systems to purify functional proteins from plants.

Born in New Brunswick (Canada), Amy McMackin studied Chemistry in Quebec (Canada). In 2020, she received her BSc in Environmental and Bioresource Chemistry from the Université du Québec à Rimouski. Throughout her bachelor's studies, Amy had the opportunity to contribute to several research projects in Chemical Oceanography, notably looking at the consequences of oil spills in cold environments on blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) under the direction of Prof. Dr. Richard St-Louis (UQAR), and studying the impacts of hydroelectric dams in Northern Quebec on the marine ecosystem of James Bay under the direction of Prof. Dr. Huixiang Xie (UQAR-ISMER). Amy obtained her master's degree in Chemistry in 2022 through a joint project between the Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR) and the Centre de développement bioalimentaire du Québec (CDBQ). For her master's thesis, Amy looked at valorizing brewer's spent grain by producing sustainable, spherical exfoliating microbeads for personal hygiene products. This project was realized under the direction of Prof. Dr. Sébastien Cardinal (UQAR) and Dr. Vincent Banville (CDBQ). Throughout her master's studies, Amy wrote about sustainability for a local newspaper (Le Mouton Noir) and her personal blog (Periodically Green), and contributed to the Montreal-based non-profit InitiaSciences as their Communications Coordinator.