Sask. researcher first Canadian to be awarded Royal Astronomical Society honour

A University of Saskatchewan professor and her research on the aurora is being recognized internationally.

Kathryn McWilliams, a professor in the department of physics, is the first Canadian to be awarded an honourary fellowship from the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) of the United Kingdom.

“It’s such an amazing surprise and it’s really humbling,” McWilliams said.

In 1992, McWilliams helped build the first SuperDARN radar site east of Saskatoon as a summer student.

Now, McWilliams is the director of SuperDARN Canada.

SuperDarn is a network of scientists in 10 countries who use radar to study the earth’s upper atmosphere.

For years, McWilliams has been researching the aurora.

“The big question is ‘What causes the Aurora?’ … We work with partners around the world — space agencies, satellite missions, other ground-based instruments — and we try to put together pieces of the puzzle,” she told CTV News.

McWilliams said the “ultimate goal” is to predict the aurora, similar to a weather forecast.

While the colours of the Northern Lights are beautiful, the aurora can impact power usage.

By being able to forecast the aurora, communities can better handle the power outages that can sometimes come with the Northern Lights, according to McWilliams.

“And once we understand the physics, and what’s going on through that whole big complicated system, hopefully we can start to better understand how it affects satellite and surges in power grids,” she said.