A UT professor in earth and planetary sciences, has been given the chance to travel the world and deliver lectures on his research. The Geological Society of America selected Larry McKay as Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer for 2008 for his research in hydrogeology, the study of the movement of groundwater.
McKay’s topics of discussion will include the study of waterborne pathogens, his work with the cleanup of Chattanooga Creek and the role of fractures in clay. He said he plans to focus his lectures on environmental problems from a geological perspective.
“The kind of research we do is very multidisciplinary,” he said. “There are too many different factors that impact the environment.”
McKay said the lectureship will be beneficial to UT by placing the school on the international scene.
“UT will get a tremendous amount of visibility out of this,” he said. “I will be recruiting graduate students and hoping to get really good applicants.”
McKay also said the series will build research collaboration ties for UT.
“Interdisciplinary efforts and interuniversity efforts are very important,” he said. “It builds stronger research teams.”
Gregory Baker, associate professor of geophysics in EPS, said the lectureship will draw more attention to the hydrogeology department.
“Just about every college and university in the U.S. has someone who does hydrogeology. That in fact makes this award more prestigious as he was pulled from such a large pool,” he said. “For (McKay) to be selected actually says quite a bit about the strength of our department.”
McKay plans to travel throughout the United States and Canada during the academic year and to Europe during the summer.
“I’m expecting invitations from Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands,” he said. He also intends to spend three to four weeks in China over the summer. There, he will devote time to strengthening UT’s ties to China while laying the groundwork for an exchange program.
“We’re trying really hard to build research connections with universities in China,” McKay said. “The exchange program will bring in Ph.D. students from China and send U.S. Ph.D. students there.” McKay said this type of program would go a long way in finding solutions to environmental problems.
“We can learn a lot from China,” he said. “One thing is the sustainability of the soil. China has a much longer time line than we have. They’ve been farming the land for thousands of years. We can look at that and compare results.”
While he said he is looking forward to the lecture series, McKay is also looking forward to the chance to travel.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said. “I’m going to really enjoy meeting people from around the world.”
The kickoff to McKay’s lectureship will be held on Nov. 9 when he will give a sample of his lectures to a UT audience.