[4][5][6] McKinnon received her Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2005, attending the College of Creative Studies.

McKinnon earned the 2022 E. R. Ward Neale Medal, for sustained outstanding efforts in sharing earth science with Canadians, from the Geological Association of Canada.

[13][10] More recently, McKinnon has consulted on Doomsday: 10 Ways the World Will End, No Tomorrow, Madam Secretary, and Star Trek: Discovery.

[14] In a profile with her alma mater, UCSB, she says that her interest in communication stemmed from the media's misrepresentation of a major landslide in the Pacific Northwest.

[15] Her bylines cover topics including space exploration, dinosaur discovery, the convergence of science and art, and disaster preparedness.