Stereotypical of a behavioral and evolutionary ecologist’s youth, Mark’s childhood was spent outside- exploring the wild in Texas, California and Australia. It was here that he first discovered his interest in nature, an interest he would pursue at the University of California, where he got his Bachelor of Science in Zoology, at Kansas State University, where he obtained a Masters of Science in Ecology, and further, at the University of Utah, where he completed his Ecology Doctorate. At all these institutions, Mark practised what he did best- researching the environmental factors that drive behavioral and species adaptations.
Mark’s passion lies not only in studying the factors that cause animal and plant behaviour to change, but also in sharing this information with others. His 24 years as a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and Honors College of Texas Tech University, where he exposed students to the fundamentals of nature through summer and field courses, are a testament of this. He also developed graduate STEM programs for secondary school teachers, undergraduate programs in Integrated Science and Natural History & Humanities, and served as the Encyclopedia of Earth’s Editor-in-Chief. With such a love of science and teaching, it is no surprise that one of Mark McGinley’s favorite quotes is Barack Obama’s pledge to “restore science to its rightful place."
Mark is currently Professor and founding Head of Science Unit at Lingnan University. He is also Lingnan University’s Director of Core Curriculum and General Education, and has been for five years.
At TEDxEncompass, Mark will walk us through the failures of many countries to effectively deal with the COVID-19 Pandemic and how these failures provide a narrow window for climatic issues to be brought to the fore. What conclusion can we expect to draw? That only science can inform us how to respond to the climatic and coronavirus crises.