Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences

Geological and Mining Engineering and Science News

Wayne Pennington Named President of AGI

Posted by kelly under News

Wayne Pennington, chair of the geological and mining engineering and sciences department, has been named president of the American Geosciences Institute (AGI).

Pennington received degrees in geophysics and geology from Princeton University (BA in 1972), Cornell University (MS in 1976) and the University of Wisconsin-Madison (PhD in 1979). He has been a professor of geophysical engineering at Michigan Tech since 1994 and became GMES department chair in 2003.

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INVOGE on Italian TV

Posted by ehgroth under News

The International Geological Masters in Volcanology and Geotechniques (INVOGE) program was featured on Italian TV news. Links to YouTube videos are provided below. The videos show the MS defense of INVOGE student Daniele Alami, which was conducted via teleconference with Milan on April 12. Daniele’s MS committee consisted of Professor Greg Waite (GMES), Assistant Professor Simon Carn (GMES) and Professor Alessandro Tibaldi from the University of Milan–Bicocca.

Tibaldi and INVOGE.

Doppia laurea internazionale, INVOGE.

INVOGE website

Seminar: Oil Spill Response Experience: Exxon Valdez to BP Deepwater Horizon

Posted by ehgroth under News, Seminars

In an engaging lecture, Tina Behr-Andres will share her experience advising the Federal Government’s Science Team for the Deep Water Horizon BP Oil Spill Response. The presentation, entitled, “Oil Spill Response Experience: Exxon Valdez to BP Deepwater Horizon,” will be held on Tuesday, April 23, from 4 p.m. to 5p.m., Dow 642.

Behr-Andres holds over twenty years of professional experience in engineering academe, private-sector technical consulting and national laboratory research management. She specializes in management of legacy wastes from nuclear weapons production; marine and terrestrial oil spill response; industrial and hazardous waste management and wastewater treatment; and contaminated site remediation. Currently, Behr-Andres is an Executive Advisor to the principal associate director of science, technology and engineering at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

This presentation is sponsored by Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Sustainable Futures Institute, Michigan Tech’s Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences, and Michigan Tech’s Office for Institutional Diversity.

GMES Awards for Spring 2013

Posted by ehgroth under News, Students

The Department of Geological & Mining Engineering & Sciences
13th Annual Awards Ceremony was held Thursday, April 11, 2013 at the Downtowner Restaurant Hall in Houghton. In addition to graduating seniors and graduate students getting recognition, numerous scholarship awards and special presentations were made by Department Chair Dr. Wayne Pennington.

A selection of photos can be found on the College of Engineering Flickr Resources.

Michigan Space Grants Announced

Posted by ehgroth under News, Research, Students

Congratulations to our faculty receiving $5,000 Michigan Space Grants:

*Louisa Kramer (GMES): “Remote sensing of gases in smoke stack plumes”

Graduate students receiving $5,000 fellowship Michigan Space Grants:

*Kathleen McKee (GMES): “Analysis of Temporal Velocity Changes from Seismic Ambient Noise in Volcanic Environments: Source Modeling and Evaluation for Monitoring”

*Lauren Schaefer (GMES): “Application of remote sensing and numerical modeling to volcanic hazard monitoring”

*Emily Gochis (GMES): “Increasing Native American involvement in geosciences through interdisciplinary community-based student investigations”

Blankenbicker writes a science education blog called SciEd

Posted by ehgroth under Alumni

Adam Blankenbicker, a Peace Corps Master’s International alumnus in geology, writes a science education blog called SciEd for the Public Library of Science (PLoS) web site. See SciEd Blog.
Adam is an Education Specialist at the Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History.

New Research Funding in GMES Dept.

Posted by ehgroth under Research

Colleen Mouw (GMES) has received $64,631 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the first year of a potential three-year, $213,363 project, ” Interpreting Ecological Variability Using Remotely Observed Optical Properties and Ocean Models.”

Colleen Mouw (GMES) has been awarded a $9,374 research grant for “Development of Novel Detection and Prediction Algorithms for Microcystis Blooms” from the University of New Hampshire, as part of a three-year project totaling $98,284.

PI Simon Carn (GMES) has been awarded $58,114 for the first year of a five-year, $661,458 research grant for “Multi-Decadal Sulfur Dioxide Climatology from Satellite Instruments” from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

New Funding: Aleksey Smirnov has been awarded a one-year research grant totaling $334,200 for “Early Career: Acquisition of a High Sensitivity Superconducting Rock Magnetometer for Paleomagnetic and Paleointensity Research,” from NSF.

New Funding: Colleen Mouw has been awarded a $17,945 research grant for “Ocean Basin Impact of Ambient Noise on Marine Mammal Detectability, Distribution, and Acoustic Communication,” from Penn State University, for the first year of a potential 19 month project totaling $29,963.

Assistant Professor Gregory Waite (GMES) has received $112,564, for the first two years of a three-year project totaling $126,928, from the National Science Foundation for a project, “Geophysical Investigation of the Mid-continent Rift System.”

Excellence in Teaching Award Nominee Alex Guth

Posted by ehgroth under News, Students

Alex Guth for being selected as Michigan Tech’s representative for the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Excellence in Teaching Award. One particular aspect of her teaching innovations that fascinated the selection panel was her work in online education.
Wayne D Pennington said “We are honored to have Alex represent Michigan Tech in this competition!”

Seminar: ‘Lessons from Yucca Mountain Standards, Regulations & Performance Assessments

Posted by ehgroth under Seminars

Professor Rodney C. Ewing, Edward H. Kraus Distinguished University Professor
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan
‘Lessons from Yucca Mountain Standards, Regulations & Performance Assessments”
Yucca Mountain, Nevada, was scheduled to be a geological repository storage facility for high-level radioactive waste until it was defunded in 2010. This seminar is sponsored by the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum and hosted by the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences. There will be a social after the talk in the Dow sixth-floor atrium (lakeside).
Friday – March 22, 3:00 to 4:00 pm DOW 642; Social to follow in 6th floor atrium, lakeside

Institute on Lake Superior Geology

Posted by ehgroth under Alumni, News

The 59th Annual Meeting of the Institute on Lake Superior Geology will be hosted by the Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Tech May 8 to May 11, 2013; Technical Sessions will be at the Franklin Square Inn, downtown Houghton. Registration Information

More Information on activities

Aleksey Smirnov Earns National Science Foundation Award

Posted by ehgroth under News, Research

Aleksey Smirnov has been honored with a prestigious National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award, commonly known as a CAREER Award. The five-year, $470,000 grant will underwrite his research on the ancient history of the Earth’s magnetic field and how it may have affected the planet’s geology and even the evolution of living things.

MORE: From the Michigan Tech Research Magazine 2013 article by Dennis Walikainen

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