Rate My Professor Andrew MacKinnon

Associate Professor Andrew MacKinnon is a faculty member in the School of Physics, Chemistry and Earth Sciences within the College of Sciences at the University of Adelaide, where he has held the position of Associate Professor since 2018. His career progression at the institution includes Senior Lecturer from 2015 to 2017 and Lecturer from 2009 to 2015. MacKinnon has undertaken key leadership responsibilities, serving as Head of the Physics Department from 2019 to 2023 and as Associate Head of Learning & Teaching since 2022. He obtained his PhD from the University of Adelaide and is eligible to supervise Masters and PhD students. Throughout his tenure, he has coordinated numerous physics courses, including Physics IE: Mechanics and Thermodynamics, PHYSICS 7532 - Atmospheric and Astrophysics, PHYSICS 1002 - Astronomy I, PHYSICS 1100ND - Physics IA, PHYSICS 1007 - Space Science and Astrophysics I, and PHYSICS 3532 - Atmospheric and Astrophysics III.

Andrew MacKinnon's research focuses on ionospheric variability, gravity waves, radar observations, VHF boundary layer radar, traveling ionospheric disturbances, mesospheric gravity wave momentum flux, sea surface backscatter coefficients, and aerosol layers. His contributions to the field are evidenced by key publications such as "Doppler variations in radar observations of resident space objects: Likely Ionospheric Pc1 plasma waves" by Jonker et al. (2024, Advances in Space Research); "Are we Developing Career-Readiness Skills in Australian Science Graduates?" by Hume et al. (2024, International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education); "High Frequency Land Backscatter Coefficients over Northern Australia and the Effects of Various Surface Properties" by Edwards, Cervera, and MacKinnon (2022, IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation); "A Comparison of the Barrick and Backscatter Ionogram Methods of Calculating Sea Surface Backscatter Coefficients" by Edwards, Cervera, and MacKinnon (2022, Remote Sensing); "Australian Lidar measurements of aerosol layers associated with the 2015 Calbuco eruption" by Klekociuk et al. (2020, Atmosphere); "Multistatic meteor radar observations of gravity-wave-tidal interaction over southern Australia" by Spargo, Reid, and MacKinnon (2019, Atmospheric Measurement Techniques); and "Mesospheric gravity wave momentum flux estimation using hybrid Doppler interferometry" by Spargo, Reid, and MacKinnon (2017, Annales Geophysicae).