Day: March 12, 2018

Michigan Tech to Host State of Lake Superior Conference SOLS 2018

SOLS 2018Michigan Tech will host the International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) 2018 State of Lake Superior (SOLS) conference Oct. 9-12. IAGLR is an international and multi-disciplinary scientific organization made up of researchers studying the Laurentian Great Lakes, other large lakes of the world and their watersheds. The State of the Lake conference series rotates annually throughout the Great Lakes region to facilitate interactions between researchers and managers on diverse topics related to issues relevant for a specific lake.

A local planning committee comprised of researchers and resource managers from Michigan Tech and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Natural Resources Department (KBIC NRD) will work with IAGLR staff and volunteers to coordinate the event. A call for sessions will be issued early spring, followed by a call for abstracts. The conference will include associated workshops, meetings and field trips.

The local planning committee includes Michigan Tech professors Gord Paterson and Nancy Auer (Bio Sci); Hugh Gorman (SS); Pengfei Xue and Cory McDonald (CEE); with logistical support provided by Elizabeth Hoy (GLRC). Local planning committee members from KBIC NRD include Lori Ann Sherman, Shannon Desrochers and Timothy Dombrowski.

Save the dates, Oct. 9-12. More information will be posted on the conference website as event details are finalized.

By Great Lakes Research Center.

Houghton Middle School Eco-Challenge Looking for Help

HMS Backyard Backlash

HMS Backyard Backlash

2017 Lexus Eco Challenge

Houghton middle-school science teacher Sarah Geborkoff, a Michigan Tech alumna and recent inductee into the Michigan Tech Academy of Educators, is turning to the community to help her middle school Eco-Challenge team. The Houghton Middle School team, coached by Geborkoff, is currently collaborating with a student team from Veracruz, Mexico.

Alex Mayer (CEE) was instrumental in facilitating this collaboration. His research and connections with educators in Veracruz made it possible to exchange experiences and information regarding land and water quality with students from this community. The student groups will continue their correspondence in the coming months.

Topics discussed between the student groups include land and soil quality issues, what is being learned in the respective schools about these topics and what members of each community are doing to spread awareness and address these issues. The team will write an article that will be included in the Spring 2018 edition of the Michigan Science Teachers Association (MSTA) Journal.

The team has also continued with grass and soil experimentation, with a focus on comparing the performance of various nonnative perennial grasses used by the Michigan Dept. of Transportation (MDOT) in its roadside rehabilitation projects to that of (native) big bluestem.

The team will go to the Ishpeming MDOT office to present its results, and has also been asked to share the project in Lansing with the Natural Resources Commission.

If you want to help, take a moment to visit the team’s website. As part of their Final Challenge, the team needs to share their project and get as many hits on their website as possible.

By Joan Chadde.