The GSG 2023 3MT (Three Minute Thesis) competition was held November 9 in the Forestry Atrium.
First Place went to Gustavo Béjar-López (PhD student in Geology), including a $300 cash prize.
Béjar-López will represent Michigan Tech at the regional competition and will compete for a spot at the national and international 3MT competitions.
According to the University of Queensland, founder of the event, the 3MT “cultivates students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills”.
Nathan Manser (GMES) was interviewed by WJMN Local 3 for a story about the mining process and management of byproducts in the past and present, as well as what could lie ahead for the mining industry relative to future mineral exploration in the Upper Peninsula.
Manser noted people in the Upper Peninsula have had to deal with repercussions of what several legacy mines have left behind.
He says the problem and search for solutions to mine tailings is front-and-center for experts in the industry. “There has never been a bigger focus on just that particular topic than then the tailings storage systems have been, especially in the last five years. It’s really accelerated.”
Lydia Lamey, a senior in Applied Geophysics and Sean Miller, a junior in Geological Engineering, were awarded the Copper Country Rock and Mineral Club (CCRMC) DeCleene Memorial scholarship for the 2023–2024 academic year. This scholarship is for students in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences at Michigan Tech who have demonstrated excellent academic performance, and best exemplify the blending of mineralogy and mineral collecting as both a hobby and an educational pursuit.
The scholarship was established in memory of Nathan DeCleene, a geological engineering student and an active member of the CCRMC.
For some families, the impact of Michigan Tech can be felt generations later. That is the case with the Walter Wickstrom ’37 family.
Three of Walter’s children, Betty Wickstrom Kendrick, Jean Wickstrom Liles, and Phil Wickstrom—none of whom are Michigan Tech alumni or live anywhere close to Michigan Tech—all fund scholarships in memory of their father and to support Tech, which they credit with setting up their family for success.
Walter Wickstrom Sr. earned a mining engineering degree from Michigan Tech in 1937 (then called the Michigan College of Mining and Technology).
Read more at Michigan Tech Alumni News, by Wes Frahm.
AIPG, the American Institute of Professional Geologists, recognized the student chapter at Michigan Tech as one of the outstanding student chapters in the nation this past year. The chapter is highly deserving of this distinction and honor and was selected as the Second Place 2023 AIPG Student Chapter of the Year.
The award consists of a certificate to be presented to the student chapter, and a certificate to each of the standing chapter officers at the time of the student chapter report submittal.
Some of the recent activities of the chapter involve field trips to mining foundations as well as to the Natural Wall, a geological structure formed of Jacobsville Sandstone.
The students are encouraged to attend the annual AIPG conference and meetings, which will be held next in Covington, Kentucky on September 16–19, 2023. During the conference, students will have the opportunity to observe the organization and functions of AIPG, participate in the Student Career Workshop, and attend a networking event with professional AIPG members.
The Chapter Sponsor is David Adler, CPG-11377, a Mannik & Smith Group Certified Professional Geologist (BS Geology ‘82). David Adler, inducted into the GMES Academy in October, has been awarded the AIPG Presidential Certificate of Merit for excellent contributions to the AIPG Michigan Section as chairman of the Michigan Section CPG application process.
The Chapter’s Faculty Sponsor is Chad Deering, associate professor in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences.
Michigan Tech wins 2022 AIPG Student Chapter of the Year Award
The 2020 AIPG Student Chapter of the Year Award goes to Michigan Tech
Beth Bartel ’23 (Ph.D. Geology) is a co-author of a paper published in Frontiers in Earth Science.
The article is titled “Children first: women’s perspectives on evacuation at Fuego volcano and implications for disaster risk reduction.”
Ailsa Naismith of Bristol University is also a co-author.
The article was included as a part of a special research topic on “Women in Science: Volcanology” and is the first publication from Bartel’s dissertation work. The research was supported by committee members from both the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences (GMES) and the Department of Social Sciences (SS).
On July 10, 2023, lava began to spill from the Fagradalsfjall volcanic system in southwestern Iceland, marking the third consecutive summer of activity at the volcano.
Simon Carn (GMES) was quoted by NASA’s Earth Observatory and eGreenews in stories about the continuing eruption of Fagradalsfjall.
“Based on satellite and ground-based data, emissions of sulfur dioxide from Fagradalsfjall are in the range of several thousands of tons per day—similar to the 2021 and 2022 eruption,” said Carn, a volcanologist at Michigan Tech and member of a NASA team that monitors sulfur dioxide emissions.
Professor Emeritus Bill Rose (GMES) was quoted by Medium in a story connecting Mount Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991 to recent geoengineering proposals seeking to replicate the cooling effect that large volcanic eruptions have on global temperatures. Rose has extensively studied the climactic effects of Mount Pinatubo and other volcanic eruptions. The cooling effect is likely due to liquid sulfate aerosol, which could potentially be introduced artificially.
According to Bill Rose, this would put scientists and politicians into a dangerous system of global environmental management where essentially another form of pollution is pumped into the atmosphere to offset the impact of the current pollution.
The National Science Foundation mentioned Michigan Tech in a story about a study showing that infrasound remote sensing technology is an effective way to monitor catastrophic volcanic mudflows. Rudiger Escobar Wolf and Greg Waite (GMES) and Ph.D. student Gustavo Bejar Lopez (geology) are co-authors of the study, which was published in Nature Scientific Reports. NSF’s story was picked up by EIN Presswire.
The study is a collaborative effort by scientists at Boise State University, the Instituto Nacional de Sismología, Vulcanología, Meteorología e Hidrología in Guatemala, and Michigan Technological University, and is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Johnson, J.B., Roca, A., Pineda, A. et al. Infrasound detection of approaching lahars. Sci Rep 13, 6476 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-32109-2
Michigan Tech was well represented at the 69th annual meeting for the Institute on Lake Superior Geology (ILSG), held in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, from April 23-26.
Research Professor Jim DeGraff and Professor Emeritus Bill Rose (GMES) presented a poster titled “Digital Image Capture and Database Compilation of Historical Mining Data from the Keweenaw Copper District, Michigan: A Progress Update.”
Graduate student Katherine Langfield (geology) delivered an oral presentation titled “Slip Kinematics of the Keweenaw and Hancock Faults within the Midcontinent Rift System, Upper Peninsula of Michigan.”
Graduate student Daniel Lizzadro-McPherson (geology) delivered an oral presentation titled “Structural Analysis and Slip Kinematics of the Keweenaw Fault System between Béte Grise Bay and Gratiot Lake, Keweenaw County, Michigan.”
Rose also delivered an oral presentation titled “New Work Developing Geoheritage Awareness.”
Geosciences Research Scientist Erika Vye (GLRC/GMES) delivered an oral presentation titled “Geoheritage as an Educational Tool to Explore Relationships with Land and Water in the Keweenaw.”
Professor Emeritus Ted Bornhorst (GMES) presented Peter Hollings, professor at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with the prestigious ILSG Goldich Medal recognizing outstanding contributions to the understanding of Lake Superior geology. He also attended the ILSG Board of Directors meeting; the board approved the 70th annual meeting to be held in Houghton in 2024, which will be chaired by Bornhorst.
The ILSG is a nonprofit professional society that provides a forum for promoting better understanding of the geology of the Lake Superior region. The major activity of the institute is an annual meeting with geological field trips and technical presentations.
