Donna Mergler
Donna Mergler in August 2017
Born(1944-06-07)June 7, 1944
NationalityCanadian
Scientific career
FieldsEnvironmental health, biological sciences
InstitutionsUniversity of Quebec, Montreal

Donna Mergler is a Canadian physiologist and currently professor emerita in the department of biological sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal, Canada.[1] Her research focuses on environmental health, specifically the effects of neuro-toxins on workplace and environment. She has also brought in lasting and real solutions to environmental degradation, while also focusing on gender and social equity.[1]

Early life and education

Donna Mergler was born on the 7 June 1944, in Montreal, Canada. She obtained her bachelor's degree in physiology from McGill University and her doctorate in neuro-physiology. She continued in this department and obtained her PhD from McGill in 1973. She also became engaged in the biology department in 1970, at the Université du Québec à Montréal, where she became a professor of physiology and environmental health later on.[2]

In 2006, after she retired, she received the title of professor emerita in the department of biological sciences from University of Quebec.[3]

Career and research

In 1990, she became a part of research center Cinbiose.[4] She also headed the Canadian Institute for Health Research Team on Gender, Environment and Health, with the goal to develop quantitative and qualitative methods to integrate sex and gender into environmental and occupational health research. She researched the effect of mercury on the ecosystem of the Amazon with the project CARUSO and was the team leader of health studies within the Collaborative Mercury Research Network (COMERN).[5]

In 2000, she researched reducing toxic chemicals in Latin America and the Caribbean, within a project called COPEH-TLAC. She was also a member of the collaboration between the World Health Organization and the Pan-American Health Organization: WHO-PAHO.[1]

After her retirement in 2006, she still continued with her research and looked into the effects of the Minamata disease.[6]

More research on neurotoxins has been done by Mergler when she researched what effect manganese had on the nervous system of populations across Canada, Mexico and Brazil.[7]

Awards and prizes

  • In 1990, she won the Muriel DuckWorth Award for Women's Studies.
  • In 1994, she won the Women of Merit in science and technology prize, by YWCA.[8]
  • In 1995, she won the Acfas Michel-Jurdant prize for her research towards protecting the environment, by ACFAS.[9]
  • In 2001, she received the Silver Award for Environmental Health, given out by the Canadian Minister of the Environment and Canadian Geographic magazine.
  • In 2019, she was put on the City of Montreal's list of '21 exceptional women from Montreal' focusing on women in social science, science and culture.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Prof Donna Mergler - Gender Summit". gender-summit.com. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  2. ↑ "Répertoire des professeurs | UQAM". Répertoire des professeurs (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  3. ↑ (PDF) https://www.mscbs.gob.es/profesionales/proyectosActividades/docs/donnaMerglerCV09.pdf. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ↑ "Mergler, Donna | Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur le bien-être, la santé, la société et l'environnement | UQAM". Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur le bien-être, la santé, la société et l’environnement (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  5. ↑ "DONNA MERGLER | Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal | UQAM | Department of Biological Sciences". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  6. ↑ "Signs of mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows youth, say Japanese experts". thestar.com. 2016-09-20. Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  7. ↑ Crump, Kenny S.; Clewell, Harvey J. (2004-01-09). "The Effects of Manganese in Air". Science. 303 (5655): 169–173. doi:10.1126/science.303.5655.169b. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 14715993. S2CID 33072627.
  8. ↑ "Les lauréates du Prix Femmes de mérite". Fondation Y des femmes de Montréal (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  9. ↑ "Prix Acfas Michel-Jurdant". Acfas (in French). Retrieved 2020-03-09.
  10. ↑ "Ville de Montréal - Arrondissement de Ville-Marie - Exposition Citoyennes inspirantes". ville.montreal.qc.ca (in Canadian French). Retrieved 2020-03-09.
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