Profile

Biography

Dr. Matthew McKay is a field geologist specializing in geologic mapping, structural geology, stratigraphy, and petrology. Dr. McKay’s research uses detailed geologic mapping and radioisotope age dating to construct timelines for the construction of mountain belts. Dr. McKay’s current field areas are the Appalachian Mountains (Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia) and Rocky Mountains (Idaho, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana). Dr. McKay has published 21 peer-reviewed articles in journals including Geology, Journal of Structural Geology, Geosphere, and Tectonics and received grants and contracts from the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA, National Science Foundation, and National Park Service. Dr. McKay is also involved in scientific computing, machine learning, robotics, and unmanned aerial vehicle applications in geoscience. His various scientific and teaching interests have sent him across the U.S., conducting field work in 21 different states and internationally, studying volcanic ashes in South Africa, flying drones over an active volcano in Iceland, and wandering the Scottish Highlands looking for faults. Recently, Dr. McKay has also begun working on robotics and low-cost monitoring sensors for geologic applications.

Details

Education

• PhD, Geology, 2015, West Virginia University
• MS, Geology, 2011, University of Alabama
• BS, Geology, 2009, University of Alabama

Teaching

• GLG 113 Earth: An Instruction Manual
• GLG 340 Structural Geology
• GLG 413 Field Geology (summer field course)

Professional experience

• Geological Survey of Alabama (2014-2016): Field geologist

Recent publications

1. McKay, M.P. and Jackson, W.T., Jr. (2026), A virtual field trip across the Alabama Valley and Ridge and Blue Ridge, Geological Society of America Field Guide,.
2. Jackson, W.T., Jr, McKay, M.P., Shaulis, B., Konopinski, M.** (2026), Late Mississippian (Chestarian) sediment provenance during initial Black Warrior foreland basin development, in McKay, M.P., Jackson, W.T., Jr, Allen, J., Weislogel, A.L. (eds.), Late Proterozoic to Paleozoic North American Tectonics: A Celebration of the Life and Career of William A. Thomas, Geological Society of America Memoir 225.
3. Lane, J.L.**, Mickus, K., McKay, M.P. (2026), Crustal structure of the Black Warrior basin through the modeling of gravity and magnetic data and its relationship to its formation, in McKay, M.P., Jackson, W.T., Jr, Allen, J., Weislogel, A.L. (eds.), Late Proterozoic to Paleozoic North American Tectonics: A Celebration of the Life and Career of William A. Thomas, Geological Society of America Memoir 225.
4. McKay, M.P. and Jackson, W.T. (2024), Geology of the Ouachita Mountains and Linkages to North American Late Paleozoic Orogenesis, Geol. Society of Am. Field Guide 68.
5. McKay, M.P., Jackson, W.T., Jr., Spurgeon, D**, Ionescu, A.**, Shaulis, B., (2021), Detrital zircon geothermochronology reveals pre-Alleghanian exhumation of regional Mississippian sediment sources in the southern Appalachian Valley and Ridge Province, GEOSPHERE.
**MSU graduate student co-author

Research and professional interests

• Field geology
• Tectonics
• Structural geology
• Clastic and volcanic stratigraphy
• Metamorphic petrology
• Spatial learning

Awards and honors

Additional resources

• Missouri State Tectonics Group