Isaiah Thurston Mckinney

Isaiah Thurston Mckinney is from Virginia Beach, Virginia. He is a senior majoring in Geosciences and with a CGPA of 3.63. Isaiah’s study is focused on paleontology/geobiology, which involves the study of the earth, environments, and organisms from the ancient past. In his hometown of Virginia Beach, he went to Ocean Lakes high school and was a part of the prestigious math and science academy program at the school.

Since he got to Virginia tech, he has been an ambassador of the Geoscience department, a member of the Yates Society, and has been a part of undergraduate research studying and analyzing early dinosaur growth and the microstructure of fossilized bone across many species.

Isaiah believes that the best part of being a black male student at Virginia Tech is the sense of brotherhood that he shares. Even with people he doesn’t know well, there is a shared commonality among every black male student at VT. Isaiah hopes to pursue his master’s and doctorate degrees after graduation, and his personal and career dream is to represent the diversity and how inclusive his field of study is. He also wishes to be a role model in a STEM field that young, underrepresented youth can connect to that he did not have growing up.

Isaiah says his role model is his father because he has taught him so much about what it takes to be a man and leader. Another role model that inspires him is comedian Dave Chappelle.