Art + Science Collaborations

Since 2014, Megan has worked with astrophysicist Elizabeth Hicks on a number of projects that combine art and science.

Elizabeth P. Hicks is a research scientist and the founder of Epsilon Delta Labs, a research lab focusing on interdisciplinary research. She specializes in interdisciplinary research at the boundary between astrophysics and fluid dynamics, studying problems where simulations of pure fluid phenomena can inform astrophysical research. In her research, Dr. Hicks has used both theoretical methods and large-scale numerical simulations.

Elizabeth and Megan met in 2014 at the Museum of Science and Industry and bonded immediately over their deeply curious approach and shared love of cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Their largest work so far is Far From Equilibrium, which occured in 2015 and 2016. They collaborated on making a dance about the scientific concept of turbulence that was performed at the Museum of Science and Industry in 2015, then expanded the work to include live music and an interactive audience experience at Links Hall in 2016.
Find out more about Far From Equilibrium here: Far From Equilibrium

In 2017 they brought some of the interactive elements from Far From Equilibrium to the March for Science Chicago, including a kinetic learning experiment where they asked audience members to learn about science concepts by engaging in a dance activity and collected data about people's learning after the activity.

Between 2018 and 2021, the pandemic and Megan’s family life caused their collaborative work to be smaller in nature and more process-based. They spent several years during this time exploring each other's discipline through conversation and also by trying from the "other side": Megan ran her own experiment and Elizabeth created her own artwork.

Since 2021, they have worked on a short dance film about scientific discovery and solar flares, called Solar Dreams. Filming took place in June 2022 and editing recently concluded at the end of 2024. Look for the film to be shared online soon.