Instead of going on maternity leave, Gail Atkinson started her PhD just three weeks after giving birth to her son.
“I found it quite easy to balance graduate work and have small kids,” she says.
That was 18 years ago. Today, Atkinson, an earth sciences professor at The University of Western Ontario, is an international leader in the field of engineering seismology.
Atkinson’s combination of motherhood and education is evident in her office, which for a moment feels more like a living room than a place of work.
A white, fluffy dog named Belle greets visitors before resuming her place in the corner of the room. A mosaic of pictures featuring Atkinson’s children at various stages of their childhood decorates the back of her door.
“Those are my 14 kids,” said Atkinson, pointing to the photos. “I’m kidding; I only have two.”
Not only do Atkinson and her husband Glenn Greig have two children, they also have three cats, three birds – and Belle. And like her family, Atkinson’s work is also full of variety.
“I do a whole range of things. I love what I do,” she says.
One of the things Atkinson has done in the last year is to accept a Canada Research Chair position, one of the country’s most prestigious research awards.
Her research involves predicting ground motions during an earthquake, which helps engineers build structures to withstand shaking. But the shaking itself is impossible to predict.
“We won’t be able to predict when earthquakes will occur. Not in my lifetime,” she says.
Atkinson’s passion for earthquakes wasn’t a childhood obsession. She didn’t experience a 7.0 magnitude tremor first-hand that initiated a desire to learn about natural disasters. Instead, her curiosity came from what she calls “a chance encounter.”
It wasn’t until partway through her undergraduate degree, when she had a professor who was studying ground movements, that Atkinson became interested in the field that has since gained her wide acclaim.
But her research hasn’t come without its sacrifices. Last year, Atkinson moved to London from Ottawa to accept her CRC position, while her husband stayed in Ottawa for another year.
“The hardest part was the commuting … There was a lot of commuting,” says Atkinson.
Part of the reason Greig stayed in Ottawa was so their son, Wesley, could finish high school.
Now Atkinson is the one working with graduate students. She has three PhD students, three postdoctoral students and a master’s student working under her.
“I’m very fortunate to have this many students,” she says.
One of her postdoctoral students, Karen Assatourians, says he is the lucky one.
Assatourians, who calls Atkinson “the perfect supervisor,” moved to Canada from Iran in August 2003. He first worked with Atkinson at Carleton University, and last year he followed his supervisor to London.
“I couldn’t imagine a better situation … Whenever I encounter difficulties, a meeting with her clears many, many things,” he says. “As long as she will keep me, I will stay.”
Staying in one place wasn’t a feature of Atkinson’s childhood. Because of her parents’ work, she grew up in Toronto, Montreal and New Jersey. “As a kid, we moved every three years, so I was always making new friends.”
London has been one city that has played a consistent role in Atkinson’s life. She met her husband as fellow graduate students at Western.
Another longstanding constant in Atkinson’s life is 14-year-old Belle. Turning to her cat-sized dog curled in a ball, Atkinson smiled. “She’s good to bring to school because she doesn’t scare anyone.”
It is quite the opposite with her career passion. When the earth shakes, everybody takes notice.
Gail Atkinson
Hobbies: cycling, golf, skiing
Education: bachelor’s degree in geology and physics; master’s degree in engineering seismology; PhD in geophysics
Courses taught at Western: Atkinson teaches a second year data analysis course and a fourth year engineering seismology course.
Other work: Atkinson is an associate editor of a journal.
Interesting fact: Atkinson was at Carleton University for 12 years
The writer is a graduate student in Journalism. This feature profiles faculty members hired over the past two years.