Since 1999, the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum has recognized individuals for excellence in earth science education with the Charles A. Salotti Earth Science Education Award. Now the mineral museum has a new partner in selecting the awardee: the Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association (MESTA).
Thanks to the efforts of museum director Ted Bornhorst and Tiger Salotti, wife of the late Charles Salotti, MESTA has agreed to promote the Salotti Award, solicit nominations and select the awardee.
On Tuesday, December 16, Professor Rolf Peterson, MTU expert on Wildlife Ecology, will lead a discussion titled “Animal Elements of Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale”. The event is part of a monthly series of sessions on the Geoheritage and Natural History of the Keweenaw, at the Carnegie Museum in Houghton. The discussions are aimed at the general public, but discuss current research and science.
While we’re able to enjoy timeless scenery as we travel in the United States, it’s important to realize that the soils and rocks forming the base of these transportation systems may not forever be stable.
In a new project led by Michigan Technological University, Thomas Oommen, assistant professor of geological and mining engineering and sciences, heads a team that is using advanced technology to develop a comprehensive management system to monitor our nation’s geotechnical assets—the ground that forms the base for the concrete, asphalt or steel that makes up our transportation system.
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Michigan Tech 1999 MS Geology Alum Gari Mayberry was featured in the Washington Post article “Gari Mayberry: Lessening the impact of natural disasters worldwide” She is employed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) while working at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). wHer work involves the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) where she is leading and coordinating the U.S. government’s response to disasters overseas and mitigation of geological hazards.
Read her Alumni Profile: Gari Mayberry
The International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) Cities on Volcanoes 8 Conference was held September 9-13, 2014 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Nine students, alumni, and faculty/staff presented at the conference.
Those in attendance are pictured (left – right) below: Jennifer Telling, post-doc; Verity Flower, PhD candidate; Christine Sealing, MS graduate – INVOGE program; Kathleen McKee, MS graduate; Lauren Schaefer, PhD candidate; Anieri Morales Rivera, MS graduate; John “Jay” Wellik, MS graduate – PCMI program; Simon Carn, Associate Professor; and Lizzette Rodriguez, PhD graduate
The Marvin Party Reached Its Goal
by Jennifer Donovan, director of news and media relations
Marvin Rene Huezo Mendoza will be able to pay for his final year of university in San Salvador and graduate in 2015.
Hans Lechner and Emily Gochis, graduate students who organized the annual Marvin Party to raise money to put Marvin through university, have announced that the Marvin Party this year met and exceeded its goal. Anything that remains after Mendoza’s bills are paid will go to help other students sponsored by Project Salvador.
This wednesday October 1, Prof Emeritus Hank Woodard of Beloit College will visit friends in Houghton, Pete and Carol Ekstrom. Woodard has been a forceful leader of earth sciences education for more than 50 years, at Beloit College. Geosciences are absent or under emphasized in US schools so most professionals in the field do not discover its advantages until they come to college. And even then, many colleges either do not offer the field or they underfund it, perceiving it to have limited interest.
Professor Bill Rose has unveiled a new kind of seminar series which is hoped to reach the non-university community—he said: “I have lived here for 45 years, but I haven’t done a good job for the local community. I’d like to change that, now that I am retired. How does the university help the local community? How do we communicate?
The A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum recently showed an exhibit, “Lake Superior Agates: Treasures on the Beaches,” at the 2014 Denver Gem and Mineral Show. The three-day show is the second largest event of its kind in the world and draws an international audience of over 10,000. Associate Curator Christopher Stefano participated in the show’s Meet the Curator event, an opportunity for members of the general public to meet and interact with curators from the major mineral museums that exhibit at the show.
John “Jack” Seaman, grandson of the namesake of the A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Tech, and his wife, Phyllis, have given a gift to support the museum’s endowment to further the work of Jack’s grandfather and enhance the museum experience for visitors long into the future. In recognition of their generosity, the Phyllis and John Seaman Garden will be dedicated this Thursday, Sept. 11, at 1 p.m. at the Mineral Museum on Sharon Ave.