Luke Mc Kay
About Luke Mc Kay
Luke McKay is a Systems Biology Manager at LanzaTech, specializing in microbial conversions of waste gas into valuable chemical products. He has a strong background in Hydrothermal Vent Microbiology and Oil Spill Microbiology, with extensive experience in academia and industry.
Current Role at LanzaTech
Luke Mc Kay currently serves as the Systems Biology Manager at LanzaTech, a position he has held since 2023. In this role, he focuses on analyzing microbial DNA, RNA, and proteins to improve the efficiency of converting waste gas into valuable chemical products. His work contributes to LanzaTech's mission of developing sustainable technologies for carbon recycling.
Previous Experience at LanzaTech
Prior to his current role, Luke Mc Kay worked at LanzaTech as a Senior Computational Biologist from 2021 to 2023. He also briefly served as the Computational Biology Lead in 2023. His tenure at LanzaTech involved significant contributions to computational biology and microbial analysis, enhancing the company's research capabilities in sustainable bioprocesses.
Academic Background
Luke Mc Kay has a robust academic background in the sciences. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham from 2003 to 2007. He then pursued a Master of Science in Marine Sciences with a focus on microbial ecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 2008 to 2011, followed by a Doctor of Philosophy in the same field from 2011 to 2014.
Research Experience and Expertise
Luke Mc Kay has extensive research experience, particularly in Hydrothermal Vent Microbiology and Oil Spill Microbiology. He served as an Assistant Research Professor at Montana State University-Bozeman from 2018 to 2021 and as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Biofilm Engineering from 2015 to 2018. His research has included over five years of studying life in extreme environments, including Yellowstone National Park, and he held a NASA Postdoctoral Fellowship with the NASA Astrobiology Institute.
Public Engagement and Communication
Luke Mc Kay has been featured as one of nine scientists in the documentary 'The Most Unknown' by Motherboard and ScienceSandbox. He is also recognized for his skills in science communication, having delivered talks at notable events such as TEDxBozeman, C2-Montreal, and HATCH-Big Sky. Additionally, he serves as a Review Editor for the scientific journal Frontiers in Microbiology - Extreme Microbiology.