Mika Tosca | |
---|---|
Occupation | Assistant professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago |
Known for | Climate Science, Biomass Burning, Aerosol-Cloud Interactions, Landscape Fire, Aerosol Effects |
Title | Associate professor |
Awards | Graduate fellowship at NASA (2008) |
Academic background | |
Education | University of Connecticut (B.A.) |
Alma mater | University of California at Irvine (M.A., PhD) |
Academic advisors | Dr. David Diner (University of California, Irvine) |
Academic work | |
Discipline | Earth System Scientist, Climate Scientist, Assistant Professor |
Institutions | School of the Art Institute of Chicago, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
Mika Tosca
Dr. Mika Tosca is a transgender climate scientist currently based in Chicago[1]. After receiving a master's and PhD in climate science at NASA, she left climate research to teach at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Here, she explores questions related to climate change from an artistic lens. She currently researches how artists can help communicate climate science more effectively, addressing the urgency of climate change.
Tosca lives in Chicago with her partner and their dog. She enjoys running and is a self-proclaimed “weather weenie.” [2][3]
Early Life and Education
Dr. Tosca has been an avid runner her whole life, and continues to run marathons today.[4][3]
After graduating high school, she worked towards a bachelor’s degree at the University of Connecticut, where she graduated with honors in 2006.[2][5] In 2008, she received the NASA Earth and Space Graduate Fellowship (NESSF), which brought her to the Los Angeles area.[6] While completing the fellowship, she received a masters degree in Earth System Science from the University of California at Irvine (UCI). [7] She then additionally completed a PhD in Earth System Science at UCI. [2]
Career and Research
Dr. Tosca received both her master’s degree and PhD in Earth System Science. [2] During her PhD program and in partnership with the NASA Earth and Space Graduate Fellowship, Tosca researched how the climate system is interconnected to landscape wildfires, and studied aerosol emissions using Earth system models. [2][3][6] As a postdoctoral scholar, she continued this work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of NASA, working with Dr. David Diner. [2][3][8][9] At NASA, she researched how climate, the clouds, and wildfires interact, using satellite sensors. [2][3] Her research with NASA took her as far as Namibia, South Africa, in 2016, where she observed the relationship between wildfire smoke and cloud formation as part of the NASA ORACLES field campaign. [2][3]
In 2017, Tosca accepted a position as an assistant professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which she maintains as her current position.[3][8] Here, she researches the connection between art and science, investigating whether artists and designers can help scientists conduct climate science more effectively, and looks into answering contemporary climate science questions through an artistic lens. [3]
Awards and Honors
Tosca received an undergraduate degree with honors distinction from the University of Connecticut in 2006.[2][5] In 2008, Tosca received the Earth System Science Graduate fellowship at NASA. [6] This 2-3 year paid fellowship accompanies students already enrolled in a masters or doctorate program. [10] The fellowship funded the research that Tosca pursued during her master’s and PhD programs. NASA also funded Tosca’s postdoctoral research.[3]
Notable Publications
- Global impact of smoke aerosols from landscape fires on climate and the Hadley circulation. Tosca’s team used remote sensing observations to characterize the climate response to smoke aerosols. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2013.[11]
- Dynamics of fire plumes and smoke clouds associated with peat and deforestation fires in Indonesia. Tosca estimated the height of smoke over Borneo and Sumatra, and characteristic sensitivity to El Niño and regional drought. AGU, 2011.[12]
- Do biomass burning aerosols intensify drought in equatorial Asia during El Niño? Tosca measured the sensitivity of smoke clouds to regional drought during El Niño years, and overarching effects on the climate. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2010.[13]
- Human-caused fires limit convection in tropical Africa: First temporal observations and attribution. With her team, Tosca used temporally-offset satellite observations from 2006-2010 in northern Africa to measure the effect of fire aerosols on convective cloud dynamics. AGU, 2015.[14]
- A Global Analysis of Wildfire Smoke Injection Heights Derived from Space-Based Multi-Angle Imaging. Tosca analyzed globally distributed wildfire smoke plume injection heights to provide a resource to better model smoke dispersion for climate and air quality applications. MDPI, 2018. [15]
Public Engagement
With her research, Tosca advocates for better public awareness of the urgency of the climate crisis.[3] She has been invited to speak on ways to combine art and science to effectively communicate climate science.[3] [16] Tosca believes that artists could help scientists better communicate the seriousness of the climate crisis to the public. [17]
Tosca has been invited to speak at many notable institutions regarding her work, including the University of California, Irvine, the University of California, Santa Barbara, Columbia College in Chicago, the Headlands Center for the Arts in California, the AGU Fall Meeting, Miami University in Ohio, and the University of Michigan. [16][18][19][20][21][22][23]
Tosca is also an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. She looks into the intersection between contemporary queer, feminist, and environmental issues. [2] She believes that the LGBTQ+ community could be revolutionary in combating the climate crisis.[24]
References
- ^ Hawbaker, K. T. "Members of Chicago's trans community have 'complicated' reactions to Supreme Court's revival of military ban". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "mtosca1". School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k EOS (2020). "Science Adviser Profile". Science News by AGU. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "2021 Bank of America Chicago Marathon". action.aidschicago.org. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ a b University of Connecticut. "Commencement Programs: 2006 May 6-7". UConn Library.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b c NASA (2008). "NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) Program - 2008" (PDF). NESSF. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "mtosca1". School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ a b Chicago Tonight | Climate Scientist Swaps NASA for School of the Art Institute | Season 2019, retrieved 2020-12-18
- ^ "Can Poor Air Quality Mask Global Warming's Effects?". NASA/JPL. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ MSFC, Heather Deiss:. "NASA - Graduate Student Fellowships in Earth Systems Science". www.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ Tosca, M. G.; Randerson, J. T.; Zender, C. S. (2013-05-24). "Global impact of smoke aerosols from landscape fires on climate and the Hadley circulation". Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 13 (10): 5227–5241. doi:10.5194/acp-13-5227-2013. ISSN 1680-7324.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Tosca, M. G.; Randerson, J. T.; Zender, C. S.; Nelson, D. L.; Diner, D. J.; Logan, J. A. (2011). "Dynamics of fire plumes and smoke clouds associated with peat and deforestation fires in Indonesia". Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. 116 (D8). doi:10.1029/2010JD015148. ISSN 2156-2202.
- ^ Tosca, M. G.; Randerson, J. T.; Zender, C. S.; Flanner, M. G.; Rasch, P. J. (2010-04-16). "Do biomass burning aerosols intensify drought in equatorial Asia during El Niño?". Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. 10 (8): 3515–3528. doi:10.5194/acp-10-3515-2010. ISSN 1680-7324.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ Tosca, M. G.; Diner, D. J.; Garay, M. J.; Kalashnikova, O. V. (2015). "Human-caused fires limit convection in tropical Africa: First temporal observations and attribution". Geophysical Research Letters. 42 (15): 6492–6501. doi:10.1002/2015GL065063. ISSN 1944-8007.
- ^ Val Martin, Maria; Kahn, Ralph A.; Tosca, Mika G. (October 10, 2018). "A Global Analysis of Wildfire Smoke Injection Heights Derived from Space-Based Multi-Angle Imaging". Remote Sensing. 10 (10): 1609. doi:10.3390/rs10101609.
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: CS1 maint: unflagged free DOI (link) - ^ a b "Reimagining Futures: Collaborations Between Artists, Designers, and Scientists as a Roadmap to Solving the Climate Crisis". UCSB Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ "Climate Scientist Swaps NASA for School of the Art Institute". WTTW News. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ "Michigan Institute for Research in Astrophysics Presents: "Conversations on Inclusion and Equity" | Happening @ Michigan". events.umich.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ "UC Irvine Department of Earth System Science (ESS)". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ "Columbia College Chicago : Third Coast Disrupted: Artists + Scientists on Climate". students.colum.edu. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ "Third Coast Disrupted: Artists + Scientists on Climate - Announcements - Art & Education". www.artandeducation.net. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ "Thematic Residency on Climate Equity". Headlands Center for the Arts. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
- ^ MISR (December 10, 2019). "MISR Data User Workshop at the AGU 2019 Fall Meeting". misr.jpl.nasa.gov. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Climate science meets art | LGBTQ+ History Month". Epigram. 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-12-18.