Young Professional Awardee: Dr. Mika Tosca

Mika is a trained climate scientist, having completed her Ph.D in 2012 at the University of California, Irvine. While at Irvine, Dr. Tosca researched the interconnectivity of the climate system with landscape wildfires and their particulate (aerosol) emissions using Earth system models. She continued this work as a postdoctoral scholar at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (a federally-funded NASA research lab) in Pasadena, CA. There, she used multiple satellite sensors to research the interactions between climate, clouds, and fires, even traveling as far as Namibia in 2016 to observe the complex relationships between wildfire smoke and cloud formation. In 2017 she took a position as an Assistant Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is now investigating ways that artists and designers can collaborate with climate scientists in an effort to better communicate and conduct climate science research. She has been invited to speak on the role of scientists, artists, and citizens in building post-climate change worlds, and continues to be vocal about the urgency of addressing the climate crisis. Mika is a self-proclaimed “weather weenie” and avid marathoner, and lives in Chicago with her partner and their impeccably adorable pup. Her citations can be found here:

Lifetime Achievement Awardee: Dr. Megan Ross

A trailblazing leader, Megan Ross, Ph.D. serves as President & CEO of Chicago’s iconic Lincoln Park Zoo. As the first woman and first scientist to lead the global urban zoo and science center, Ross drives the zoo’s mission and vision of being open, accessible, and welcoming for guests from all around the globe.

Dr. Ross has had an extensive career of learning about — and caring for — animals that has taken her across the world, from China to Atlanta to right here in Chicago. She joined Lincoln Park Zoo in 2000 as the Hope B. McCormick Curator of Birds, and over the next 20 years she served as the zoo’s General Curator, Vice President of Animal Care and Education, Executive Vice President, and Zoo Director.

Appointed as CEO in 2022, she centers her work on four pillars: Care, Conservation, Community, and Culture. These values are the zoo’s platform for engaging the people of Chicago around broader issues of animal welfare, coexistence with nature in an urbanizing world, and environmental issues like climate change, habitat loss, and conservation of diverse and healthy ecosystems, both at the zoo and around the world.

A passionate, published scientist and committed environmentalist, she incorporates her broader perspective into improving animal welfare and helping zoo visitors connect with nature. For instance, she launched ZooMonitor in 2016, an animal-behavior monitoring app that gives insight into the needs and best possible care of animals. Today, the app has been downloaded by more than 700 institutions across more than 50 countries.

Dr. Ross is also widely regarded as an expert on zoo ethics as the former chair of the ethics board for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), and a newly appointed AZA board member. Locally, she is also a member of Leadership Greater Chicago’s inaugural Daniel Burnham Fellowship cohort, The Chicago Network and the Economic Club of Chicago.

A self-proclaimed science nerd, Dr. Ross has a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in psychology and lives in the Chicago area with her husband and two children.