Megan Pratt

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Megan Pratt
MeganPratt.jpg
Born 1973
Durham, North Carolina
Occupation Executive Director
Pensacola MESS Hall
Religion Methodist
Spouse Jerry Pratt
Parents Scott and Lois Benson
Children Annie & Ben

Megan Benson Pratt (b. 1973) is the executive director of the Pensacola MESS Hall. She formerly was the science education coordinator at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition and an At-Large member of the Pensacola City Council. She is the daughter of Lois Benson and younger sister of Holly Benson.

A native of Durham, North Carolina, Megan moved with her family to Pensacola in 1976. After graduating from Washington High School in 1990, she received a bachelor's of science degree from M.I.T. in 1993, an M.A. in chemistry from Harvard in 1995 and her Ph.D. in neurobiology from Harvard in 1999, then was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School in 2000. In 2002 she returned to Pensacola and began working at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC), where her husband Jerry Pratt is also a robotics researcher. She has spearheaded the IHMC's Science Saturdays program and, with her sister Holly, helped create the I LOVE Science program for 5th graders in the Escambia and Santa Rosa County School Districts. In 2012 she and her husband brought together a group of Pensacolians to found the Pensacola MESS Hall, a hands on science museum in downtown Pensacola.

Community involvement[edit]

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Preceded by:
Mike Wiggins
Pensacola City Council
District 9 (At-Large)

2009 – present
Incumbent