Introducing Kate McKinney!

 

 

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Kate McKinney is the new co-editor of the New Age Girls! A scientist at heart, she loves anything that has to do with medicine, biology, theoretical physics, or astronomy, and spends a great deal of time working on her research.

“As a student researcher, I’ve always gotten these looks of disbelief when I tell people about what I do for fun. I set really really high goals for myself, and am incredibly passionate about science! For me, it’s impossible to be this passionate about something and not want to share the enthusiasm!”

Kate works to spread her love of STEM by volunteering at a science museum, working on her not-for-profit, the Kentucky STAR Center (Click here to go to the website!), and of course through her involvement with the New Age Girls!!

If you can’t find Kate in her lab working with neurodegeneration in microscopic worms, check the soccer fields or the kitchen! If she’s not doing research or struggling through Spanish, she’s probably playing soccer or cooking up something crazy! Besides that, Kate also enjoys spending time with her 3 dogs, learning how to fly (a plane), reading her comic books (she’s  super geeky), working on miscellaneous electronic projects, and traveling (she’s been to 10 countries!).

In the not too distant future, Kate plans to get her undergraduate degree in neuroscience or microbiology, and continue to get a medical degree with a focus on neurology and aeronautics (she hasn’t ruled out an MD/PhD yet, either). From there, she hopes to land her dream job working in space biology at NASA, the NSBRI, or somewhere like SpaceX!

“I’ve known since I was little that I wanted to make a difference. I want to do something that’s never been done before. I realized I could do what most people do and wait until I’m in my 30s to do something meaningful, to make a big discovery. But I’m not one to do what most people do.”