astronomy

M Jackson

M Jackson is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand M Jackson rather than just read about it. In short: M Jackson is an American geographer, glaciologist, and National Geographic Society Explorer. She is the author of the popular science books "The Ice Sings Back" The Secret Lives of Glaciers and While Glaciers Slept: Being Human in a Time of Climate Change.

Key takeaways

M Jackson belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect M Jackson to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of M Jackson from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

M Jackson is an American geographer, glaciologist, and National Geographic Society Explorer. She is the author of the popular science books "The Ice Sings Back" The Secret Lives of Glaciers and While Glaciers Slept: Being Human in a Time of Climate Change. M Jackson is a 2018 TED Fellow.

Early life and education Jackson completed her undergraduate studies at Western Washington University. Jackson then attended the University of Montana, from which she graduated in 2011 with a Master of Science degree. She attended the University of Oregon, where she earned a doctorate in geography and glaciology. She worked in The Glacier Lab under the supervision of Mark Carey. Together they proposed a feminist glaciology framework for global environmental change. They proposed the study to provoke discussion about the people who are researching glaciers, and whose voices are left out. She completed her thesis, "Tangled Up in Blue: Narratives of Glacier Change in Southeast Iceland", in 2017. Jackson is a three-time U.S. Fulbright Fellow, completing research fellowships in Turkey and Iceland. On her second Fulbright-funded project, she worked in Höfn, Iceland, looking at how climate change affected glacier communities. During her PhD she became a National Geographic Explorer. She has served in the Peace Corps in Zambia.

Career Jackson has given several TED talks, but is best known for her 2017 TED talk "Glaciers, Gender and Science". Jackson has spoken often on the harassment she received as a female scientist. Jackson is an Arctic expert and Emerging Explorer for the National Geographic Society. She has led expeditions across the Arctic. She regularly visits glaciers around the world. She is currently working on InTangible Ice, a multi-year project that studies the impacts of the socio-physical dimensions of glacier retreat. The project partners with the National Geographic Explorers, filmmakers and scientists. In 2018, Jackson was announced as a TED Fellow for her work highlighting how people and glaciers interact. In December 2022, Jackson began hosting a 12-episode series on Crash Course on the topic of climate change and energy production.

While Glaciers Slept Jackson's first book, While Glaciers Slept, was published by Green Writer's Press in June 2015. It explores the parallels between the destruction of the planet as a result of climate change and a family facing the loss of parents. The book combines personal science with exploration, and was well received by critics. The book's foreword is by Bill McKibben. She has given several talks about this book and her exploration work.

The Secret Lives of Glaciers In 2019, Green Writer's Press published Jackson's second book, The Secret Lives of Glaciers. The book explores what happens when a community's glaciers slowly disappear. Jackson unfolds complex stories of people and glaciers along the southeastern coast of Iceland, exploring the history of glacier science and the world's first glacier monitoring program, the power glaciers enact on local society, perceptions by some in the community that glaciers are alive, and the conflicting and intertwined consequences of rapid glacier change on the cultural fabric of the region. The book has been well received by critics.

The Ice Sings Back Published in 2023, a novel set in the Cascade Range of Oregon, that follows the impact of a missing girl on the lives of four women. It has been described as an eco-thriller.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with M Jackson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what M Jackson claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to M Jackson before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about M Jackson ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of M Jackson

In research: M Jackson appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses M Jackson in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: M Jackson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century American earth scientists, 21st-century American explorers, 21st-century American science writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for M Jackson outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study M Jackson in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what M Jackson means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain M Jackson out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is M Jackson in simple terms?

Why does M Jackson matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study M Jackson?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on M Jackson.