Mika McKinnon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mika McKinnon
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| Alma mater | University of California, Santa Barbara The University of British Columbia |
| Known for | Disaster research, Stargate |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Geophysics, Disaster Research, Science Communication |
| Institutions | SETI Institute FEMA Gizmodo Natural Resources Canada |
| Thesis | Landslide runout: statistical analysis of physical characteristics and model parameters (2010) |
| Academic advisors | Oldrich Hungr |
Mika McKinnon is a Canadian scientist who studies the Earth, helps people prepare for disasters, and explains science to everyone. She is a lead researcher for something called Project ESPRESSO. She also used to be a science advisor for the TV shows Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe.
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Mika McKinnon's Early Life and School
In 2000, Mika McKinnon was a student in a special astronomy program called the Summer Science Program. Later, she even helped lead the program and gave talks there.
She went to the University of California, Santa Barbara and earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 2005. While she was there, she helped restart a student group for physics and led discussions about how science is used in movies and TV.
Then, in 2010, she earned her Master of Science degree in geophysics from the University of British Columbia. Geophysics is the study of Earth's physical processes, like earthquakes and landslides. Her work focused on understanding and predicting landslides. She used special math to map how landslides move. This helped predict where they would go, which can save lives and reduce damage.
After finishing school, Mika McKinnon strongly supported women and other groups in science. She noticed that sometimes women in her field were hired because they could be paid less. This made her want to speak up for fairness in science jobs.
How Mika McKinnon Helps with Disasters
Mika McKinnon is very interested in how we manage disasters, get ready for them, and talk about them. She works to connect scientific research with real-world actions and rules.
She uses her science and communication skills to teach disaster managers. For example, she helped update the science lessons for emergency managers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). She also worked on projects with Natural Resources Canada, which is a government group that deals with Canada's natural resources.
Exploring Space with Project ESPRESSO
Mika McKinnon is a key researcher for Project ESPRESSO. She uses her knowledge of landslides on Earth to help understand surfaces on other planets, asteroids, and moons. This project aims to make space exploration safer for robots and astronauts.
Project ESPRESSO is a big team effort involving seven different groups. It was chosen by NASA in 2016 as one of four important projects for space exploration research. Mika McKinnon also works at the SETI Institute, which is one of the partners in Project ESPRESSO.
Mika McKinnon Explains Science to Everyone
In 2022, Mika McKinnon won the E. R. Ward Neale Medal. This award is given for great work in sharing Earth science with people in Canada.
She started explaining science to others when she was a student at UBC. The people who made the TV show Stargate: Atlantis asked for a physicist to help them make the science in their show more accurate. After she graduated, she kept working as a science communicator. This included writing popular science articles and continuing to advise on Stargate: Atlantis and Stargate: Universe.
More recently, Mika McKinnon has advised on other TV shows like Doomsday: 10 Ways the World Will End, No Tomorrow, Madam Secretary, and Star Trek: Discovery. She once said that she became interested in science communication because the news often got the facts wrong about a big landslide in her area.
She used to be an editor for Gawker Media, writing about popular science for io9 and later for Gizmodo. She has written about many topics, including space travel, dinosaur discoveries, how science and art connect, and how to get ready for disasters. Her articles have appeared in magazines like Wired UK, Smithsonian, Ars Technica, and Astronomy.
Mika McKinnon also volunteers for the National Academy of Sciences Science & Entertainment Exchange. She helps people in the entertainment industry make sure science is shown correctly in movies and TV shows.
