Category: News

MTU Team Participating in NextCycle Michigan ROADS Innovation Challenge

A proposal submitted by Zhanping You (CEGE) earlier this year has been selected by NextCycle Michigan as one of the projects in the NextCycle Michigan ROADS Innovation Challenge Track.

You and his team will work on a project titled “The Marketing Development and Implementation of Recycled Glass for Asphalt Pavements.”

You’s team is comprised of Michigan Technological University teams with the Marquette County Solid Waste Management Authority (MCSWMA) and Dickinson County Road Commission. The collaborators will plan a construction section of recycled glass asphalt pavement in Dickinson County.

By Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering.

Arman Tatar Awarded 2022 Ammann Research Fellowship

Arman Tatar
Arman Tatar

Upon the recommendation of the Structural Engineering Institute, Arman Tatar has been selected by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) as the recipient of the 2022 O.H. Ammann Research Fellowship in Structural Engineering.

The award will allow Tatar to purchase the necessary parts and material to pursue his original research topic in addition to the research he is currently conducting under Dan Dowden’s supervision.

By Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering.

Jack Moon Receives APWA Branch Scholarship

Jack Moon, a second-year civil engineering student at Michigan Tech, has been awarded a 2022 Branch Scholarship from the American Public Works Association Chicago Metro Chapter – Fox Valley Branch for his outstanding academic and scholastic achievements. He will be formally recognized at a luncheon held June 14.

According to the chapter’s website, the branch scholarship is intended for students pursuing a degree in civil engineering, environmental engineering, or a public works-related field.

Congratulations, Jack!

By Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering.

Kenny Larsen Awarded Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellowship

Kenny Larsen
Kenny Larsen

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office for Coastal Management has announced the second cohort of 2022-24 Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellows.

PhD in Environmental Engineering candidate Kenny Larsen is among those selected.

The Davidson Fellowship offers students enrolled in a master’s or PhD program the opportunity to conduct research within a National Estuarine Research Reserve. Each two-year project employs the tenets of collaborative research, including engaging end-users, incorporating multidisciplinary perspectives and ensuring outcomes that are applicable to local coastal resource management needs and decision-making. This fellowship honors the legacy of Margaret A. Davidson, a true visionary and pioneer in the field of coastal resource management.

By Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering.

Brincks, Thrasher, and Welling Awarded National Society of Professional Surveyors Foundation 2022 Scholarships


The National Society of Professional Surveyors Foundation has announced the 19 recipients of its 2022 scholarship awards. Three Michigan Technological University students are among them:

Congratulations to Brayden Brincks, Alex Thrasher, and Connor Welling!

According to the NSPS Foundation’s press release, the scholarships are awarded annually from funds created by various companies, professional organizations and individuals to help assist the financial needs of future geospatial professionals. Each year’s awardees are selected by NSPS Foundation and American Association for Geodetic Surveying scholarship committees based on their academic record, letters of recommendation, financial need and their introductory letter outlining their educational plans, future goals, significant activities and contributions to their school, community and the surveying profession.

By Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering.

MTU Researchers Active in Build and Broaden Indigenous Food Sovereignty Symposium

Michigan Tech student, staff, and faculty researchers planned, implemented, and attended the NSF-sponsored Build and Broaden Indigenous Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Symposium at Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and Northern Michigan University from May 20-22, 2022.

Among the planning team were co-principal investigator (co-PI) Valoree Gagnon (CFRES/GLRC), Erika Vye (GLRC), Emily Shaw (CEGE), Shelby Lane-Clark (CFRES), Elizabeth Brown (SS) and Kate McGowen (CFRES).

The event was led by the Intertribal Agriculture Council (principal investigator Dan Cornelius); Northern Michigan University (co-PI Martin Reinhardt); Ferris State University (co-PI Scott Herron); and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community. The Michigan Tech team is currently writing the Proceedings document, which will be publicly available later this summer at food-sovereignty.com.

By College of Forest Resources and Environmental Science.

GLRC Represents MTU at Joint Aquatic Science Meeting

Several Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC) affiliated faculty, research staff and students represented Michigan Tech on May 14 to May 20 at the 2022 Joint Aquatic Science Meeting (JASM) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. JASM is the world’s largest gathering of aquatic scientists, students, practitioners, resource agency staff and industry representatives.

This year, the GLRC was a Silver Sponsor for the event and had a booth in the exhibit hall. Those who presented include:

Oral Presentations

  • John Lenters (GLRC): “The Great Lakes Evaporation Network: Successes and Challenges of a 14-Year Binational Collaboration”
  • Jill Olin (BioSci): “Nutritional consequences of intraspecific diet variation in a marine carnivore”
  • Gord Paterson and Dalton Norris (BioSci): “Trophic ecology and Hg bioaccumulation among Lake Superior Lake Trout morphotypes” (IAGLR board administration)
  • Megan Berberich (BioSci): “Sediment microbial communities, organic matter, and methane biogeochemistry across multiple reservoirs in the midwestern United States”
  • Michelle Kelly (BioSci): “Habitat heterogeneity promotes linked C and N cycling in streams”
  • Ara Hakim (CEGE): “Using Ensemble-based Data Assimilation to Improve Hydrodynamic Modeling for Lake Erie Surface Temperature Short-term Forecast”
  • Ben Reuss (CEGE): “Modeling Metabolism in a Shallow, Hypereutrophic, Polymictic Lake”
  • Amy Marcarelli (BioSci): “Transforming Our Understanding of Nitrogen Fixation Across Aquacapes” (in collaboration with Robinson W. “Wally” Fulweiler, Boston University, and Thad Scott, Baylor University)
  • Erin Eberhard (BioSci): “Heterogeneity of Nutrient Limitation and N Cycling Across Wetland-Stream-Lake Interfaces of Lakes Superior and Huron”
  • Longhuan Zhu (CEGE): “Coastal Erosion along Lake Michigan under Climate Change”
  • Xing Zhou (CEGE): “Incorporation of microcystin production improves Lake Erie cyanobacterial bloom toxin forecasts”

Poster Presentations

  • Trista Vick-Majors (BioSci): “Physicochemical drivers of microbial ecosystems in Antarctic subglacial aquatic environments”
  • Maci Quintanilla (BioSci): “Impact of ice-cover on organic carbon biogeochemistry in a temperate freshwater system”
  • Vanessa Cubillos Tellez (BioSci): “Under Ice Photosynthetic Primary Production and Dark Carbon Fixation in a Temperate Freshwater System”

Sessions

  • Amy Marcarelli (BioSci) organized the symposium “Integrating perspectives on nitrogen fixation across the aquascape” and an integrative event called “Aquatic N2-Fixation Research Coordination Network.”
  • Jim Junker (BioSci) was a session chair for “NEON data: leveraging continental scale data to advance freshwater science.”

In addition, Michael Gretz (BioSci) attended as an executive committee and board of trustees member representative for the Phycological Society of America administration.

Other Michigan Tech representatives included GLRC Director Tim Havens (CS/GLRC/ICC) and Jamey Anderson (GLRC/MRAF).

By Great Lakes Research Center.

Noel Urban Named 2021 Best Associate Editor

Noel Urban
Noel Urban

The Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering (CEGE) congratulates Noel Urban for being named the Best Journal of Great Lakes Research Associate Editor for 2021.

The Journal of Great Lakes Research is the official journal of the International Association for Great Lakes Research (IAGLR). Urban is a member of its editorial board, which includes many associate editors with a wide range of expertise.

By Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering.

Geospatial Escape Trailer Visiting Area Schools

During the month of May, a team from the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering (CEGE) is visiting area middle schools to introduce students to geospatial engineering with a grant funded by the Engineering Information Foundation.

The purpose of the grant is to enhance interest and increase students’ awareness of geospatial engineering by providing hands-on experiences that mimic the work of geospatial engineers while interacting with female role models in engineering. By the end of the month, the program will reach over 1,000 middle school students in Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton and Ontonagon counties.

The Geospatial Escape Trailer is the centerpiece of the outreach event, and was made possible with gifts from Atwell LLC, R.A. Smith, Seiler Instrument Geospatial, and Spalding DeDecker. The grant was written by PhD student Jess Alger and CEGE faculty: Audra Morse, Joan Chadde, Melanie Kueber Watkins, Joseph Foster, and Jeffery Hollingsworth.

By Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering.