Robert M. L. McKay
Robert Michael Lee McKay is a Canadian microbiologist and presently the executive director and a professor of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, School of Environment, at the University of Windsor.[1] McKay's research interest center around the physiological ecology of phytoplankton communities in large lakes and oceans. His efforts focus on environmental microbiology including harmful cyanobacterial blooms and blooms of ice-associated algae in the Great Lakes.
Education
[edit]McKay completed his B.Sc. at Queen's University in Kingston, ON, Canada in 1986.[2] Subsequently, he completed a Ph.D. at McGill University (Montreal, QC) in 1991.[3] McKay was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada,[4] which supported training on marine toxins at the Institute of Marine Science (University of Alaska). This was followed by subsequent training at Brookhaven National Laboratory in their Oceanographic and Atmospheric Sciences Division. In 1997, McKay accepted a faculty position at Bowling Green State University where he rose to the rank of full professor. During this period he held the Ryan Professorship in their Department of Biological Sciences. In 2019, he left BGSU to join the leadership of the University of Windsor.[1]
Research
[edit]
McKay's research is focused on large lakes with some forays into ocean sciences. He has worked in locations including the Southern Ocean, the Baltic Sea, Lake Balaton (Hungary) and the Laurentian Great Lakes. He studies the microbial ecology of these systems, including harmful cyanobacterial blooms[5][6] and blooms of ice-associated algae in the Great Lakes,[7] often teaming with his BGSU colleagues George Bullerjahn and Hans Paerl.[8][9][10] During the COVID-19 pandemic, his lab group made a transition to wastewater surveillance in support of public health. He is the author of over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts[11] and serves as an investigator on grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council,[12] Canada Foundation for Innovation, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, U.S. National Science Foundation,[13] and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
Awards and recognition
[edit]McKay was named a Humboldt Scholar in 2005 by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.[14] In 2019, his collaborations with a number of researchers earned the John H Martin Award[15] from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography.
Personal life
[edit]McKay is the head coach of the Lancers curling team at the University of Windsor.[16]
External links
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Dr. Robert Michael McKay | Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research". www.uwindsor.ca. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
- ^ "Dr. Robert Michael McKay". www.uwindsor.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
- ^ McKay, R. Michael L. (Robert Michael Lee). "Composition and function of the pyrenoids of algal chloroplasts". escholarship.mcgill.ca. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- ^ "NSERC's Awards Database". www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca. 2016-06-28. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
- ^ Matson, Paul G.; Boyer, Gregory L.; Bridgeman, Thomas B.; Bullerjahn, George S.; Kane, Douglas D.; McKay, Robert M. L.; McKindles, Katelyn M.; Raymond, Heather A.; Snyder, Brenda K.; Stumpf, Richard P.; Davis, Timothy W. (2020). "Physical drivers facilitating a toxigenic cyanobacterial bloom in a major Great Lakes tributary". Limnology and Oceanography. 65 (12): 2866–2882. Bibcode:2020LimOc..65.2866M. doi:10.1002/lno.11558. ISSN 0024-3590. PMC 7942401. PMID 33707786.
- ^ Steffen, Morgan M.; Davis, Timothy W.; McKay, R. Michael L.; Bullerjahn, George S.; Krausfeldt, Lauren E.; Stough, Joshua M.A.; Neitzey, Michelle L.; Gilbert, Naomi E.; Boyer, Gregory L.; Johengen, Thomas H.; Gossiaux, Duane C.; Burtner, Ashley M.; Palladino, Danna; Rowe, Mark D.; Dick, Gregory J. (2017-06-20). "Ecophysiological Examination of the Lake Erie Microcystis Bloom in 2014: Linkages between Biology and the Water Supply Shutdown of Toledo, OH". Environmental Science & Technology. 51 (12): 6745–6755. Bibcode:2017EnST...51.6745S. doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b00856. ISSN 0013-936X. PMID 28535339.
- ^ Twiss, M.R.; McKay, R.M.L.; Bourbonniere, R.A.; Bullerjahn, G.S.; Carrick, H.J.; Smith, R.E.H.; Winter, J.G.; D'souza, N.A.; Furey, P.C.; Lashaway, A.R.; Saxton, M.A.; Wilhelm, S.W. (2012) [2012]. "Diatoms abound in ice-covered Lake Erie: An investigation of offshore winter limnology in Lake Erie over the period 2007 to 2010". Journal of Great Lakes Research. 38 (1): 18–30. doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2011.12.008.
- ^ McKindles, Katelyn M.; McKay, R. Michael; Bullerjahn, George S. (2022-08-23). Miller, Todd (ed.). "Genomic comparison of Planktothrix agardhii isolates from a Lake Erie embayment". PLOS ONE. 17 (8): e0273454. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0273454. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 9398003. PMID 35998200.
- ^ Mukherjee, Maitreyee; Ray, Anirban; Post, Anton F.; McKay, Robert Michael; Bullerjahn, George S. (February 2016). "Identification, enumeration and diversity of nitrifying planktonic archaea and bacteria in trophic end members of the Laurentian Great Lakes". Journal of Great Lakes Research. 42 (1): 39–49. doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2015.11.007.
- ^ Bullerjahn, George S.; McKay, Robert M.; Davis, Timothy W.; Baker, David B.; Boyer, Gregory L.; D’Anglada, Lesley V.; Doucette, Gregory J.; Ho, Jeff C.; Irwin, Elena G.; Kling, Catherine L.; Kudela, Raphael M.; Kurmayer, Rainer; Michalak, Anna M.; Ortiz, Joseph D.; Otten, Timothy G. (April 2016). "Global solutions to regional problems: Collecting global expertise to address the problem of harmful cyanobacterial blooms. A Lake Erie case study". Harmful Algae. 54: 223–238. doi:10.1016/j.hal.2016.01.003. PMC 5230759. PMID 28073479.
- ^ "Robert Michael McKay". scholar.google.com. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
- ^ NSERC (2016-06-28). "NSERC's Awards Database - Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada". www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
- ^ "NSF Award Search: Award # 1230735 - RAPID response to an extreme low ice year on Lake Erie". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
- ^ "12/06/21: Michael McKay | CIGLR". Retrieved 2023-06-22.
- ^ "2019 Martin Award Recipients". ASLO. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
- ^ "Mike McKay - Head Coach - Curling - Staff Directory". Windsor Lancers. Retrieved 2023-02-24.