McKinney, Melissa
Associate Professor;
Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Ecological Change and Environmental Stressors
"As an environmental chemist and ecologist focused on climate change and pollution in northern wildlife, I am driven by a deep commitment to understanding and addressing the environmental challenges facing our planet. My research and teaching aim to inspire the next generation of scientists to engage in meaningful problem-solving, equipping them with the tools to support sustainable adaptation to a rapidly changing world."
Ph.D. (Carleton University)
M.Sc. (University of Windsor)
B.Sc. Honours (University of British Columbia)
- Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Ecological Change and Environmental Stressors
- American Chemical Society Editor鈥檚 Choice Article (2017, 2023)
- Recognition of Teaching Excellence, University of Connecticut, Provost
- Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship (University of Windsor)
- NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship (Dalhousie University)
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Melissa McKinney received her Ph.D. in Chemistry with a Specialization in Chemical and Environmental Toxicology from Carleton University at the National Wildlife Research Centre in 2010, following a BSc from the University of British Columbia in 2002 and an MS degree from the University of Windsor at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research (GLIER) in 2004. From 2011-2014, she held an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship at Dalhousie University (Department of Biology), followed by a Banting Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Windsor (GLIER). She started as an Assistant Professor at the University of Connecticut in the Department of Natural Resources & the Environment in 2015, before returning to Canada to join 黑料社鈥檚 Department of Natural Resource Sciences in 2018. She serves on the editorial boards of the journals Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology and Environmental Pollution. Her research focusses on Arctic and Northern wildlife that are important natural resources for northern communities, including in the Canadian North, Greenland, Norway, and Alaska. She uses novel chemical tracer approaches to evaluate trophic ecology and pollutant accumulation in marine mammals and fishes in the context of a rapidly changing climate.
Climate change ecology
Melting sea ice represents a key threat to the sustainability of Arctic marine mammals. Conversely, temperate and sub-Arctic marine mammals are redistributing northward to occupy these new areas of open water. Shifting community composition may lead to increased competition for food, as well as greater risk of predation, such as due to range-expanding killer whales. Yet, little is known about comparative feeding patterns among native and non-native marine mammals in the Arctic. We are using a multi-proxy, chemical tracers-based approach to determine changes in potential for competition and predation among species in a natural laboratory for climate change, the Arctic.听
Arctic marine pollution听
Chemical pollution is a major concern for the health of Arctic marine mammals and the people who harvest them for food, and climate change is impacting contaminant input into, and distribution within, northern ecosystems. We are evaluating, for example, how sea ice-driven changes in foraging habitat and behavior influence exposure to mercury, PCBs, PFAS, and other contaminants of concern for sensitive Arctic wildlife.听
Approaches to quantifying marine mammal diets听
The feeding habits of large marine mammals can have outsized impacts on food webs and may play a major role in food web restructuring with climate change. Yet, estimating the diets of species that live underwater in remote regions and that undergo large-scale movements remains a major challenge. We are developing and validating novel chemical tracer tools to quantify marine mammal diets. These tools include stable isotopes, fatty acids, and amino acid and fatty acid isotope analysis (known as compound-specific isotope analysis).
Stress ecology
The impacts of co-occurring environmental stressors on wildlife populations are rarely considered. Our work is showing that the pressing threats facing wildlife populations can no longer be studied in isolation and that climate change impacts and adaptation must be considered more holistically, in terms of connections to other global stressors, i.e., the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss.
- Arctic and Northern
- Climate Change
- Ecology and Biodiversity
- Environmental Chemistry
- Environmental Health and Toxicology
- Wildlife