Mitchell McMillan

Appointments

Postdoctoral Fellow — Georgia Institute of Technology, May 2022—present

Education

Ph.D. — Earth Science, University of Toronto, April 2022

M.Sc. — Environmental Science, University of West Florida, June 2016

B.Sc. — Geology, University of Alabama, May 2012

Research interests

Tectonic geomorphology; Geodynamic modeling; Mapping and GIS.

ORCID profile, Google Scholar profile


Articles in preparation

McMillan, M., Schoenbohm, L. M., and Tye, A. (Under review). Plateau formation controlled by lithospheric foundering under a weak crust.

Publications

McMillan, M. and Schoenbohm, L. M. (2023). Diverse styles of lithospheric dripping: Synthesizing gravitational instability models, continental tectonics, and geologic observations. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, e2022GC010488. Link

McMillan, M., Schoenbohm, L. M., Tye, A., McMillan, M. F., and Zhou, R. (2022). Eocene to Quaternary deformation of the southern Puna Plateau: Thermochronology, geochronology, and structural geology a hinterland basin (NW Argentina). Tectonics 41(6), e2022TC007252. Link

Tye, A., McMillan, M., Schoenbohm, L. M. and Zhou, R. (2022). Late Cenozoic extensional formation of the Antofalla depression, southern Puna plateau, Argentina: An effect of lithospheric foundering? Tectonics 41(3), e2021TC006807. Link

Seagren, E., McMillan, M., and Schoenbohm, L. M. (2022). Tectonic control on drainage evolution in broken forelands: Examples from NW Argentina. Tectonics 41(1), e2020TC006536. Link

Schoenbohm, L. M. and McMillan, M. (2021). Worldbuilding from tectonic first principles: Integrating and challenging undergraduate knowledge through a course project. Journal of Geoscience Education 70(1), 56–72. Link

McMillan, M. and Schoenbohm, L. M. (2020). Large-scale Cenozoic wind erosion in the Puna Plateau: the Salina del Fraile Depression. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 125, e2020JF005682. Link

McMillan, M., Liebens, J., and Bagui, S. (2018). A statistical model for streambank erosion in the northern Gulf of Mexico coastal plain. CATENA 165, 145–156. Link

McMillan, M. and Hu, Z. (2017). A watershed scale spatially-distributed model for streambank erosion rate driven by channel curvature. Geomorphology 294, 146–161. Link

McMillan, M., Liebens, J., Metcalf, C. (2017). Evaluating the BANCS streambank erosion framework on the Northern Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 53(6), 1393–1408. Link

Liebens, J., Metcalf, C., and McMillan, M., (2016). Development of regional bank erosion relationships for the Coastal Plain hydrophysiographic region. Final Report, grant 13058, State Wildlife Grants. Florida’s Wildlife Legacy Initiative, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.


Selected abstracts

McMillan, M., Sim, S. J., and Wilson, C. (2022). Investigating the roles of fluids and bulk composition in eclogitization reactions involving continental lithosphere. AGU Fall Meeting 2022

Tye, A., McMillan, M., and Schoenbohm, L. M. (2022). Lithospheric foundering recorded by the complex Miocene to Quaternary tectonic evolution of the Southern Puna Plateau, Argentina. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs 54(5). Link

McMillan, M., Tye, A., and Schoenbohm, L. M. (2021). Lithospheric dripping under a weak crust: Geodynamic modelling of the Southern Puna Plateau, Argentina. AGU Fall Meeting 2021.

McMillan, M., Tye, A., Schoenbohm, L. M., Zhou, R., and McMillan, M. F. (2020). Cenozoic tectonic evolution of the Antofalla Basin in the Puna Plateau, NW Argentina. AGU Fall Meeting 2020.

McMillan, M. and Schoenbohm, L. M. (2019). Deciphering a large-scale, wind-dominated landscape in the Central Andes: Aeolian topography in the Salina del Fraile Depression, Southern Puna Plateau. AGU Fall Meeting 2019.

McMillan, M. and Schoenbohm, L. M. (2019). Deformation and exhumation of the Salina del Fraile, NW Argentina: Anatomy of a hinterland basin. Geophysical Research Abstracts, 21, EGU2019-12341.

McMillan, M. and Schoenbohm, L. M. (2018). Synthesizing global lithosphere removal events: Scale, style, and surface deformation. Geophysical Research Abstracts, 18, EGU2018-10881.

Liebens, J. and McMillan, M. (2016). A practical streambank erosion model for the coastal plain of the northern Gulf of Mexico. Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. Denver, CO. September 25-26, 2016.

McMillan, M. and Liebens, J. (2016) Streambank erosion model for the northern Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain. EcoStream 2016: From Ridgeline to Thalweg, Asheville, NC. August 22-25, 2016.

McMillan, M., Liebens, J., and Metcalf, C. (2016). Predicting annual streambank erosion rates in the U.S. Gulf Coastal Plain: BEHI and beyond. Rocky Mountain Stream Restoration Conference. Breckenridge, CO. July 19-21, 2016.

McMillan, M. and Liebens, J. (2015). Streambank erosion modeling: Improving field methods. American Water Resources Association Conference. Denver, CO. November 16-19, 2015.

Liebens, J., M. McMillan, and Cambron, D. (2015). Predicting stream bank erosion on the northern Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain: Pitfalls and solutions. National Association of Environmental Professionals. Honolulu, HI. April 13-16, 2015.


Grants

Postdoctoral Fellowship (Rejected)2022NSF (EAR-PF)$180,000
Graduate Student Research Grant2015GSA$1,250
Graduate Student Research Grant2015GCAGS$2,000
Travel Grant2015AWRA$400

Scholarships

Cameron Allen Explorers Graduate Fellowship2020University of Toronto
Ontario Trillium Scholarship2017–2021University of Toronto
Outstanding Graduate Student Scholarship2015University of West Florida
Undergraduate Student Research Scholarship2012University of Alabama
Outstanding Undergraduate Student Scholarship2010–2012University of Alabama

Awards

Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award2017University of West Florida
Outstanding Student in General Chemistry2010University of Alabama
Outstanding Student in Ancient Greek2010University of Alabama

Research experience

Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2022–Present

Research/Teaching Assistant, University of Toronto Mississauga, 2017–2021

ERS101 Planet Earth lab; ERS202 Dynamic Earth lab; ERS302 Tectonics; ERS 111 Earth, Climate & Life

Research/Teaching Assistant, University of West Florida, 2014–2016

GLY2010 Physical Geology lab

Intern, Department of Natural Resources Management, Escambia County, FL, 2015

Researched and delivered a manuscript on the impacts of hydraulic fracturing (fracking)

Research Assistant, University of Arizona, 2013

Geologist, Longleaf Energy Group, Inc., 2012–2013

Research Assistant, University of Alabama, Dept. of Geological Sciences, 2012

Other experience

Founder, Cool Font LLC, www.coolfont.co, 2016–Present

We develop apps for iPhone, Android, and Windows with a focus on utilizing the internal sensors of modern smartphones.

Writing: McMillan, M. Pangea’s Handiwork. Mobile Bay Magazine. January 2015.

Open-source software: github.com/mitchellmcm27