Category: Outreach

Joan Chadde, Director of the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, gave three presentations at the International Association of Great Lakes Research (IAGLR) annual conference, June 10-14, at The College at Brockport, State University of New York. Her presentations included the following titles:

• Creating Great Lakes Stewards and Promoting Healthy Urban Watersheds in Detroit
• Lake Superior Youth Symposium 1995-2019: Inspiring Stewardship
• Teacher-Created Innovative Invasive Species Lessons to Achieve State Standards.

Scientific excursions aboard MTU’s research vessel Agassiz to discover ‘How scientists investigate the health of the Great Lakes?’ at Strawberry Festival, 12:30-6 pm, Saturday, July 13 at Chassell Marina

‘How do scientists investigate the health of Lake Superior’ is the focus of FREE scientific excursions aboard Michigan Tech’s research vessel, Agassiz, that will be offered at the Strawberry Festival from 12:30-6 pm, Saturday, July 13, departing from the Chassell marina.

The public is invited to reserve a space by using this link or call the Center at: (906) 487-3341, or go to the Center’s webpage:https://blogs.mtu.edu/cseo/   The public is also welcome to come to the Chassell Marina dock on Saturday from 12:30 to 5 pm, to get on the list. Spaces go quickly. Each excursion has room for 18 participants. Half of the available spaces will be saved for onsite participants.

On each scientific excursion, Dr. Cory McDonald, a Michigan Tech scientist in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the Great Lakes Research Center, will show how data is collected on water clarity, temperature, and turbidity and explain what that tells us about the health of Lake Superior and Chassell Bay. Dr. McDonald will explain the link between land uses and the health of the Great Lakes.

Space is limited to 18 persons per excursion (children must be at least 7 years of age and accompanied by an adult). Life jackets are available for all passengers. All must wear closed toe shoes.

“Copper Country residents and visitors are encouraged to learn how scientists study the Great Lakes and which  measurements indicate a healthy lake,” explains Joan Chadde, director of the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach, who has coordinated this program as part of Strawberry Festival since 2006.

“These scientific excursions for the public have been extremely popular. Youth and adults enjoy the opportunity to interact with Great Lakes scientists and get their questions answered,” adds Chadde.

The event is funded by the GM Ride the Waves Program which puts 600 Copper Country youth and adults on the water each year to learn about the health of the Great Lakes and Lake Superior, and to promote STEM careers. Financial support for the Agassiz at the Strawberry Festival is also provided by the Chassell Lions Club.

For information on Lake Superior Day festivities and the Agassiz in Copper Harbor on Sunday, July 21st, contact Lloyd Wescoat at lwescoat@mtu.edu  or call the Center at: (906) 487-3341. Center for Science& Environmental Outreach

https://blogs.mtu.edu/cseo/ Michigan Tech’s Great Lakes Research Center       http://greatlakes.mtu.edu/   Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative      http://lakesuperiorstewardship.org/

The Hayes Township Board of Trustees could cover up what is considered one of the most unique rock formations in the world because of flaking shale.

Stanley Vitton is a professor at Michigan Tech, who has a Ph.D. in civil engineering, a Master of Science in mining engineering and a Bachelor of Science in geological engineering, and also has worked for the Shell Mining Company, which is a subsidiary of Shell Oil Company. He is also an expert in geometrics, along with having a long list of scholarly research and creative contributions throughout his career.

Vitton informed the board the shale wall is structurally safe, after he examined the shale inside Hayes Township Park Camp Sea-Gull.

Read more at the Charlevoix Courier, by Lonnie G. Allen.

Video: Norwood Shale at Hayes Township Park Camp Sea-Gull

Lloyd Wescoat (CEE/GLRC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received a $74,967 grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce – National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

Joan Schumaker Chadde (CEE) and Amanda Gonczi (GLRC) are co-PIs on the project titled “Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative – Meaningful Watershed Educational Experiences for Rural Schools.”

This is an 18-month project totaling $74,967.

More than four thousand western UP students will spend time learning outdoors this school year thanks to a $20,000 grant from the Wege Foundation recently provided to the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach. The Center’s Outdoor Science Investigations Field Trip Program is open to elementary and middle school students in all 19 school districts in Houghton, Baraga, Gogebic, Ontonagon and Keweenaw counties. Last year, the Field Trip Program engaged more than 4000 students in 200 classes from 14 schools in outdoor science learning, from physical and earth science, to forestry, wildlife, and stream monitoring.

Two activities are offered for each grade level during each season, led by the Center’s science specialist, Brian Doughty. Activities for younger students focus on exploration and observation. These field trips enhance classroom learning and provide real-world, hands-on experiences for students. All activities are correlated to Michigan Science Standards and connect to the school curriculum. The outdoor classroom allows students to utilize science and math skills, including observing, predicting, data-collection, analysis, and graphing.

During the winter field trip season, students are provided with snowshoes to incorporate physical exercise into their learning. Students investigate topics such as the “wind chill” effect, which materials make better insulators, and techniques used by wildlife to survive our cold, snowy winters. One teacher observed, “My students absolutely loved the program. Their favorite part was looking for decomposers, which made the food web a reality for them. Later on that day, one of my students was very excited because she found the word, ‘carnivore’ in her reading. This is just what we learned this morning!”

The Center’s mission is to enhance the teaching and learning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and promote environmental stewardship amongst K-12 students and teachers. For more information about the Wege Foundation grant or the field trip program, contact Joan Chadde at 906-487-3341 or jchadde@mtu.edu .

Barkell Elementary School hosted Family Science and Engineering Night Wednesday evening, February 6, 2019, giving children grades K-5 opportunities to think outside of the box in the fields of science and engineering, with educational yet fun activities.

Brian Doughty of the Michigan Tech Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, led an activity in which fourth- and fifth-grade students explored generating electricity with a lemon.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Graham Jaehnig.

Students Learn About Ice

The students took a hike through the winter trail at the Nara Nature Center, as well as participated in some hands on activities inside. “This program allows roughly 4,000 students in the Western Upper Peninsula to experience the outdoors and to learn science in the outdoors,” said Joan Chadde, Michigan Tech’s Director for Science and Environmental Outreach.

Read more at the Keweenaw Report.

Nara Nature Field Trip TV

Much of the program’s funding comes from contributions and strong community support. “We are super excited to have received a $20,000 grant from the Wege Foundation this year to continue the program.” – Chadde

Watch the Video, by Lee Snitz.

HOUGHTON — Going by historical norms, the storm that hit the Copper Country on June 17 was a 1,000-year event.

But the combination of warmer, wetter weather and changes in land use means events like it could become more common, said Veronica Webster, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Michigan Technological University. Webster’s Tuesday lecture, “Is Intense Rain the New Normal? Understanding Our Risks” was the second in the Keweenaw Natural History Seminar Series, which is focused on the causes and effects of and responses to the flood.

As development increases, the community needs to consider how runoff could increase from changes in the climate or the watershed, and take into account how roadways affect runoff patterns.

“Where we choose to build and how we choose to build impacts our resilience to the increasing risk of heavy storm events and flood events,” she said.

Read more at the Mining Gazette, by Garrett Neese.