Month: April 2014

Retirement Party for Brad Baltensperger April 30, 2014

Brad Baltensperger
Brad Baltensperger

Brad Baltensperger, chair of the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences and professor of geography, is retiring after 40 years at Michigan Tech. The campus community is invited to attend his retirement party on Wednesday, April 30, from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., in Memorial Union Ballroom A2. Please join the department in celebrating his career and wishing him an enjoyable retirement. Refreshments will be provided!

From Tech Today.

Belling Recognized at Student Leadership Awards

Last Friday, dozens of students, faculty and other members of the Michigan Tech community celebrated students’ achievements at the 20th Annual Student Leadership Awards.

Les Cook, vice president for student affairs and advancement, and Hannah Altscheffel, Tech’s 2013 Rising Star of the Year, hosted the ceremony.

The ceremony concluded with the recognition of a few other award winners, including Patrick Belling, who received Exceptional Graduate Student Leader.

Read more at Tech Today, by Monica Lester.

SURF Award for Yovich

This summer, the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program will fund 23 students from across the University with funds from the Vice President for Research and the Honors Institute. The total funding for the program this year is $80,500.

Among the recipients is Psychology major Faryn Yovich, working with Shane Mueller on “Relationship between Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Creativity in Children.”

From Tech Today.

Lake Superior Celebration Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Lake Superior CelebrationLake Superior Celebration
6-8 pm, Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center

The community is invited to the Lake Superior Celebration at the Great Lakes Research Center. The event, hosted by the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative (LSSI), is FREE, family-friendly, and open to all.

SCHEDULE (202 GLRC)
6:30-7 pm Welcome & overview of Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative (LSSI)
LSSI video (7 min)
LSSI Teacher/Student Presentations
7:00-7:30 pm Wildflowers of the UP by Bob Wild, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park
7:30-8:00 pm Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative PBS video (20 min.)

View the PDF Flyer.

Learn more at the Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education (WUP Center).

Earth Day at Michigan Tech Today

A new PBS video will be aired at the celebration. It features local participants in the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative. The event is free and open to the public and all are welcome. The Lake Superior Celebration is sponsored by the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative and Michigan Tech’s Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education.

Earth Day was started in 1970 to help raise awareness, channeling the energy of the anti-Vietnam War protest movement to help bring environmental issues to the forefront. Senator Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin was inspired to establish Earth Day after witnessing the aftermath of the massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, in 1969.

Read more at Tech Today, by Erika Vichcales.

Forestry Education Grant for Chadde

Urban TeachersJoan Chadde was in Detroit recently leading field trips to the forests of Belle Isle for 350 Detroit students (grades 5-9) from nine Detroit Public Schools as part of the Urban Forest Stewardship Project and a forestry teacher workshop. Both were funded with an $80,000 grant from the US Forest Service to provide teacher training and increase middle/high schools students’ knowledge, stewardship and interest in natural resource careers.

From Tech Today.

EPDIS Engineering Applications in Biological Sciences Summer 2014

EPDISEPDIS Engineering, Life Sciences and NGSS
Summer 2014
July 14-25, 2014
August 4-6, 2014
Engineering Applications in Biological Sciences

Deadline: May 2, 2014

There is an opportunity for people who have participated in a Michigan Department of Education grant previously to join the cohort of 19 teachers who are participants in the grant.

The Educators’ Professional Development Institute Series (EPDIS): Engineering, Life Sciences and NGSS is focused to support and deepen teacher content knowledge and content pedagogy of practicing teachers.

View the Application, Brochure, Schedule, and Contact information at the Current Institute page of Teacher Professional Development in the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences.

Engineering Applications in Biological Sciences

Participant guidelines:

  1. Michigan teacher certificate, grades 5-12
  2. Previous participation in a Michigan Department of Education Improving Teacher Quality Grant project awarded to Michigan Tech

Benefits to joining the cohort of teachers in the current EPDIS:

  1. Books, supplies, housing, meals and tuition funded plus a stipend for the 4 graduate credit ENG5400 summer institute July 1425,
    2014.
  2. Books, supplies, housing, meals and tuition funded plus a stipend for the 1 graduate credit 3DPrinter Workshop tentatively August 46,
    2014.
    (participants will assemble and learn to operate an open source Delta style 3D Printer to bring back to use in your classroom.)

Roles and responsibilities of the grant participants:

  1. Complete ENG 5400 course & 3DPrinter workshop.
  2. Submit all pre/post evaluations for yourself and evidence of project related student learning.
  3. Assist in all components of program evaluation and assessment, including SAMPI Classroom Observations.

Slade Presents at Equity Conference

Mental ToughnessRepresentatives from Michigan Tech attended the “Equity Within the Classroom Conference” hosted by University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, recently.

Michigan Tech presentations included: Darnishia Slade (CLS), “Mental Toughness in Academia: Women pursuing STEM majors”; Liz Fujita (SYP), accompanied by an LSSU representative presented “UP, UP, and away: Gearing Up Rural Michigan Students for Life After High School”; and Kaitlyn Bunker ( ECE) moderated a panel discussion coordinated by Elizabeth Hoy (IIE), “Engaging Industry Partnership in the Diversity Pipeline.”

Read more at Tech Today.