Patricia Kay McCormick (dz7089)

Patricia K. McCormick (Ph.D., Michigan State University) views the telecommunication and space sectors as integrated within a broader economic and political context at both the national and international levels. She is currently examining the impact of climate change on water scarcity and its implications for human migration in the Middle East and North Africa.  She recently completed a study of the EU's use of drones and satellites for monitoring migration across the Mediterranean Sea as well as agreements that the EU made with countries in the Middle East and North Africa to detain migrants in exchange for aid.  Her previous research, some of which was published in Telecommunications Policy, focused on the dynamics of institutional reform in the telecommunications sector in Africa and the Caribbean, where she conducted extensive field work. She has also examined the impact of private sector participation in the International Telecommunication Union and the institutional restructuring of international satellite organizations. Dr. McCormick served as the co-editor and contributor to the book, The Transformation of Intergovernmental Satellite Organisations Policy and Legal Perspectives, published by Brill, 2013. She has conducted research related to the space environment, specifically orbital debris, as well as the efforts of the European Union and the European Space Agency to develop regional space surveillance capabilities. Dr. McCormick has published in both Science and Public Policy and Astropolitics The International Journal of Space Politics and Policy. She is a member of the International Institute of Space Law (IISL) and presently serves as an Associate Professor at Wayne State University.

• Middle East and North Africa
• Climate Change
• Remote Sensing
• Global Governance
• Water Scarcity

Climate Change, Use of Drones and Satellites, Surveillance.

Ph.D., Telecommunication, Michigan State University.

M.A., Telecommunication, Michigan State University.

M.A., African Studies, Howard University.

B.A., African Studies and Geography, University of Michigan.

Use of satellites and drones for monitoring climate change, water resources, and human migration.

“The Evolution of Japan’s Space and Security Policies: Reflections of Constitutional Interpretation and U.S. Influence,” Asian International Studies Review, 22 (2021): 1-23.“Space Situational Awareness in Europe: The Fractures and the Federative Aspects of European Space Efforts,”  Astropolitics  The International Journal of Space Politics and Policy, 2015.

“Space Debris: Conjunction Opportunities and Opportunities for International Cooperation,” Science and Public Policy 40, No. 6 (December 2013): 801-813, first published on-line at http://spp.oxfordjournals.org/ on April 22, 2013 (doi:10.1093/scipol/sct028).

Co-editor with Maury J. Mechanick, eds. The Transformation of Intergovernmental Satellite Organisations Policy and Legal Perspectives. Studies in Space Law, 9. (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2013). 

“Neo-Liberalism: A Contextual Framework for Assessing the Privatisation of Intergovernmental Satellite Organisations.” The Transformation of Intergovernmental Satellite Organisations Policy and Legal Perspectives. Studies in Space Law, 9. (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2013): 1-35.

, with David Sagar, “Inmarsat: In the Forefront of Mobile Satellite Communications.” The Transformation of Intergovernmental Satellite Organisations Policy and Legal Perspectives. Studies in Space Law, 9. (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2013): 35-79.

“Intelsat: Pre and Post-Private Equity Ownership.” The Transformation of Intergovernmental Satellite Organisations Policy and Legal Perspectives. Studies in Space Law, 9. (Leiden, The Netherlands: Koninklijke Brill NV, 2013):  81-117.

“The Demise of Intergovernmental Satellite Organizations: A Comparative Study of Inmarsat and Intelsat,” Journal of International Communication 14, No. 2 (2008): 48-65.

 “The Privatization of INTELSAT: The Transition from an Intergovernmental Organization to Private Equity Ownership.” Telecommunications Research Trends. Eds. H. Ulrich and E. Lehrmann. (New York: NOVA Science Publishers, Inc., 2008): 45-74.

“Private Sector Influence in the International Telecommunication Union,” info: the journal of policy, regulation and strategy for telecommunications, information, and media 9, No. 4 (July 2007): 70-80.

“The African Telecommunications Union: A Pan-African Approach to Telecommunications Reform,” Telecommunications Policy 29, No. 7 (August 2005): 529-548.

“Telecommunications Reform in Southern Africa:  The Role of SADC,” Telecommunications Policy 27, No. 2 (February/March 2003): 95-108.

Courses taught:

• COM 1010 Oral Communication
• COM 1500 Survey of Mass Communication
• COM 3010 Media Analysis and Criticism
• COM 4560 Telecommunications Policy: A Political Economy Approach
• COM 5010 History of Communication Technologies
• COM 5520 International Communications
• COM 5510 Societal Affects of New Technologies
• COM 5480 Special Topics in Public Media Studies and Practices
• COM 7000 Introduction to M.A. Studies in Communication
• COM 7540 Mass Communications and Developing Countries
• COM 7530 Critical Mass Communication Theory

Communication