Keynote Speakers

At this year's Mikiten Research Symposium, we will be having two keynote speakers. Dr. Michael Mackert will kickoff the Mikiten Research Symposium. Dr. Jay Banner will wrap up the symposium with an engaging workshop.

Dr. Michael Mackert

Dr. Michael Mackert will be this year's Mikiten Keynote Speaker. Michael Mackert, Ph.D., is the Director of The University of Texas at Austin Center for Health Communication and Professor in the School of Advertising & Public Relations and Department of Population Health. His research focuses primarily on the strategies that can be used in traditional and new digital media to provide effective health communication to audiences with low health literacy. He leads projects on a variety of public health issues, including tobacco cessation, opioid overdose prevention, and men's role in prenatal health, that generate evidence-based health communication strategies and contribute to health communication scholarship. 

Dr. Jay Banner

Dr. Jay Banner is the F.M. Bullard Professor of Earth & Planetary Sciences and director of the Environmental Science Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. He studies water resources, climate change, and community resilience. This research combines geoscience and chemistry to examine streams, aquifers, caves, and tree rings, and it takes him to the Caribbean, the Western Pacific Ocean, and Texas among other places. His community engagement initiatives include Hot Science – Cool Talks and Project BRIDGES. Jay is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America, a member of UT’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers, and the recipient of the 2024 Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching. In his free time, Jay enjoys his family, dogs Lucy and Ziggy, and playing ultimate frisbee. Join us at the Mikiten Research Symposium to hear his presentation: 21st Century Texas: Climate, water, society, and science communication.