-
Associate Professor, Sch Of Environ,Society&Sustain
Professional Service
- Cooperative Institute for Research to Operations in Hydrology (CIROH).
Council Of Fellow.
03/01/2023 - present
- NASA Snow International Working Group (SINTER) .
Role: President.
Executive Committee.
01/01/2023 - 12/31/2023
- Remote Sensing of Environment.
Associate Editor.
05/01/2020 - present
- Surface Atmosphere Integrated Field Laboratory (DOE SAIL) .
Role: Aerosol Team.
Team Member.
03/15/2020 - present
- International Commission on Snow and Ice Hydrology .
Role: Vice President.
Elected Leadership.
07/2019 - present
- NASA/CUAHSI .
Role: Lead Instructor.
Annual Snow School Planning and Instruction.
01/2019 - present
- Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI).
University Representative.
10/2018 - present
- NASA Snow International Working Group (SINTER).
Role: Elected Leadership.
President.
08/2018 - present
- Western Snow Conference.
Role: Chair.
South Continental Committee.
04/2018 - present
- American Geophysical Union.
Role: Cryosphere Focus Group Representative.
Fall Meeting Program Committee.
12/18/2017 - present
- International Network for Alpine Research and Catchment Hydrology (INARCH).
Scientific Steering Committee.
12/01/2017 - present
- Western Snow Conference.
Role: Secretary.
South Continental Area Committee.
08/15/2017 - 04/2018
- American Geophysical Union.
Sharing Science Champion.
01/15/2016 - 01/15/2018
- American Geophysical Union.
Role: Early Career Representative.
Cryosphere Focus Group Executive Committee.
03/01/2015 - 12/2017
Internal Service
- College Council.
Department Representative,
08/2019 - present.
College service.
- Undergraduate Committee.
08/2019 - 05/2020.
Department service.
- GIS Committee.
08/2019 - 05/2020.
Department service.
- Remote Sensing curriculum planning.
07/01/2017 - 07/2018.
Department service.
Community Partnership
- Protect Our Winters (Climate Advocacy)
Role: Science Alliance, guest speaker, panelist.
05/2019 - present
Outreach
- Ambassador, Community Snow Observations.
02/01/2019 - present
Honors & Awards
- Cryosphere Section Early Career Award.
American Geophysical Union,
12/12/2023
- Kavli Fellow.
National Academy of Sciences Kavli Frontiers of Science,
10/19/2022
- Superior Research Award (Tenure Line Junior Category).
College of Social and Behavioral Science,
03/21/2022
- Superior Research Award Finalist (Tenure Line Junior Category).
College of Social and Behavioral Science,
03/29/2021
- Junior Faculty Research Leave Award (Spring 2021).
College of Social and Behavioral Science,
01/08/2020
In the Media
- Dust is melting snow – and current models can’t keep up. AGU Eos. 10/25/2023.
https://eos.org/articles/dust-is-melting-snow-and-...
- I ski for miles in the wilderness to measure dust atop snow. Nature. 09/04/2023.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02737-9
- Dust From the Drying Great Salt Lake Is Wreaking Havoc on Utah’s Snow. Smithsonian Magazine. 07/07/2023.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dust-fro...
- Dust from a shrinking Great Salt Lake may be accelerating Utah’s snowmelt. Science News. 07/03/2023.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/dust-snow-melt...
- Utah’s snow melted 17 days early because of Great Salt Lake dust. The Salt Lake Tribune. 06/16/2023.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2023/06/16...
- Utah’s record snow is so deep it buried measuring equipment. 03/24/2023.
https://ksltv.com/534937/utahs-record-snow-is-so-d...
- The Last Chair Podcast: Dr. McKenzie Skiles, The Science of Snowmelt. 03/08/2023.
https://www.skiutah.com/blog/authors/tom-kelly/dr-...
- ABC News (National) - Avalanches have become deadlier. Experts explain why. 02/18/2023.
https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/avalanches-becom...
- The Dirtbag Diaries: Endangered Spaces - Colorado River, USA. 02/10/2023.
https://dirtbagdiaries.com/endangered-spaces-color...
- Washington Post: In this Word Cup ski season, climate change in winning. 11/18/2022.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/202...
- RadioWest: The Future Of Utah’s Water. 04/28/2022.
https://radiowest.kuer.org/show/radiowest/2022-04-...
- Climate Scientist Katharine Hayhoe and educator McKenzie Skiles on climate change. 04/22/2022.
https://www.kpcw.org/show/local-news-hour/2022-04-...
- Researchers developing new snowpack forecast model to better understand water conservation. 04/12/2022.
https://kutv.com/news/local/researchers-developing...
- Researchers hope new snowpack funding data will bring valuable drought insight. 04/06/2022.
https://ksltv.com/489084/researchers-hope-new-snow...
- This $7M effort in Utah will help us understand droughts, floods. 04/06/2022.
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2022/4/6/23013667/flo...
- Dust from the Great Salt Lake is causing early snowmelt. Here’s what we can do about it. 03/15/2022.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2022/03/15/dust-great-...
- Dust Clouds are killing people out West- and the dangers could spread (Popular Science). 02/24/2022.
https://www.popsci.com/environment/dust-clouds-dan...
- How climate change could affect snow at the Winter Olympics by 2080. 02/2022.
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-climate-change...
- Utah’s Olympics prospects amid shrinking snowpack (Utah Public Radio). 01/14/2022.
- Can the Great Salt Lake be saved? 01/13/2022.
https://kcpw.org/local-news/2022-01-13/can-great-s...
- Snowpack in the West: Will there be enough to ski in 50 years? (Deseret News). 12/09/2021.
- A Long View of Sierra Snow (NASA Earth Observatory). 07/08/2021.
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/148595/a-...
- Wildlife, Air Quality at Risk as Great Salt Lake Nears Low (Associated Press). 06/06/2021.
https://apnews.com/article/great-salt-lake-air-qua...
- NASA Snow Campaign Digs Deep in 2021. 02/24/2021.
https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/nasa-sno...
- ‘Dirty snow could impact spring snowmelt’ KSL News Radio. 02/08/2021.
https://kslnewsradio.com/1942695/dirty-snow-could-...
- ‘The Future of the Outdoor State’ Protect Our Winters. 09/22/2020.
https://protectourwinters.org/video/the-future-of-...
- ‘The Outdoor State of Mind’ Protect Our Winters. 05/12/2020.
https://protectourwinters.org/video/the-outdoor-st...
- ‘Our Changing Mountain Snowpack’ The Avalanche Review. 04/01/2020.
- ‘Dust on Snow’ Community Snow Observations. 05/19/2019.
http://communitysnowobs.org/dust-snow-mckenzie-ski...
- ‘Save our Winters’ Utah Business. 04/16/2019.
https://www.utahbusiness.com/greatest-snow-on-eart...
- Fire & Ice Podcast: What’s Killing the Great Salt Lake? 03/15/2019.
https://fox13now.com/2019/03/05/new-podcast-whats-...
- ‘6 University of Utah professors studying air quality issues in Utah’ Salt Lake Tribune. 02/16/2019.
https://www.ksl.com/article/46492387/6-university-...
- This Green Earth Podcast. 01/22/2019.
https://player.fm/series/kpcw-this-green-earth/thi...
- 'Dust Is Speeding Up Snow Melt, Threatening Utah's Greatest Snow On Earth' Utah Public Radio. 01/07/2019.
https://www.upr.org/post/dust-speeding-snow-melt-t...
- 'Tribune editorial: Can the Great Salt Lake be great again?' Salt Lake Tribune. 12/29/2018.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/2018/12/29/tribune-edi...
- 'Dust from Great Salt Lake threatens Wasatch Mountains' Earth.com
. 12/23/2018.
https://www.earth.com/news/dust-threatens-wasatch-...
- 'Dust is causing Utah's snowpack to melt faster, new U. study says' KSL. 12/21/2018.
https://www.ksl.com/article/46453307/dust-is-causi...
- 'University of Utah study suggests dust threatens ‘Greatest Snow on Earth’' Fox13. 12/21/2018.
https://fox13now.com/2018/12/21/university-of-utah...
- 'Researchers find dust is threatening Utah's 'Greatest Snow on Earth'' ABC4. 12/21/2018.
https://www.abc4.com/news/local-news/researchers-f...
- 'Study: Great Salt Lake dust causing earlier mountain snowmelt' Deseret News. 12/21/2018.
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900047624/stud...
- 'Dust blowing off the shrinking Great Salt Lake is eroding Wasatch snowpack and that could eventually threaten drinking water' Salt Lake Tribune
. 12/21/2018.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/environment/2018/12/22...
- 'The Rocky Mountains Have A Dust Problem' National Public Radio (NPR). 04/22/2018.
https://www.npr.org/2018/04/22/604580743/the-rocky...
- '‘X-Snow’ Project Looking To Unlock The Secrets of Snow', WeatherNation. 02/28/2018.
http://www.weathernationtv.com/news/x-snow-project...
- 'Dust on Snow Controls Springtime River Rise in West', WeatherNation. 01/30/2018.
http://www.weathernationtv.com/news/dust-snow-cont...
- 'Dust — more than hot air — is making snow melt in the Rockies', Southern California Public Radio. 01/25/2018.
https://www.scpr.org/news/2018/01/25/80094/jpl-stu...
- 'Dust on snow controls springtime river rise in West', Phys.org. 01/24/2018.
https://phys.org/news/2018-01-springtime-river-wes...
- 'Dust on snow controls springtime river rise in West', KSL NewsRadio. 01/2018.
- 'Dust on snow controls springtime river rise in West', Utah Public Radio. 01/2018.