Northern night skies have recently been alive with light. Those shimmering curtains get their start about 93 million miles away, on the sun.
Assistant Professor Colleen Mouw (GMES) has received $38,669 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison for the first increment of a two-year project totaling $106,000: “Connecting Phytoplankton Cell Size to Variability in the Ocean Carbon Sink.”
by Dennis Walikainen, senior editor, University Marketing and Communications
Wayne Pennington, chair of geological and mining engineering and sciences, is participating in discussions to help the United Nations’ advance peoples’ right to “enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications.”
Pennington, who is also president of the American Geosciences Institute, is part of a focus group led by the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s (AAAS) Science and Human Rights Coalition. Historically, this process has not included input from scientists and engineers; but this year the geoscience community is contributing.
“It may surprise some, but most inequities in the world start with a geologic situation,” Pennington said. “Earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods are obvious examples but so are mineral wealth and its management or soil quality and farming practices.”
Pennington and AGI President-Elect Sharon Mosher join members of the Geological Society of America (GSA), the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, and AAAS to promote different scientific interests, including those from early-career geoscientists. Findings generated from this and other focus groups will be presented to the United Nations.
The AAAS Science and Human Rights Coalition is a network of scientific and engineering organizations that includes the Association of American Geographers, the Council on Undergraduate Research, and the American Society of Civil Engineers. AGI, GSA, the Association of Earth Science Editors, and the Soil Science Society of America are Affiliated Organizations.
The American Geosciences Institute is a nonprofit federation of geoscientific and professional associations that represents more than 250,000 geologists, geophysicists and other earth scientists.
La Tercera, a newspaper in Santiago, Chile, published an extensive feature article about Michigan Tech Research Institute scientist Chris Roussi’s work for the US Department of State, installing remote sensors on a Chilean glacier. The State Department also reported on the work on its Chilean Embassy web site. See Glaciares.
This Fall Semester the new class of engineering students assembled in the Rozsa Center Performance Hall to hear a speech by Michigan Tech alumnus David House on September 4th, first day of classes. He shared his engineering experiences from a 47 year career.
This summer saw the initiation of an Earth Magnetism Laboratory (EML) NSF CAREER project incorporating educational outreach for high school science teachers.
Michigan Earth Science Teachers Association (MESTA) Conference is being held at Michigan Technological University August 15-19, 2012. The conference is a joint conference with the National Earth Science Teachers Association (NESTA). Field trips and workshops are going on all over the Keweenaw area.
Read more about this and see pictures.
The Great Lakes Research Center dedication ceremony for Michigan Technological University’s newest building was on Thursday, Aug. 2. The speakers were Michigan Tech President Glenn Mroz; Stephen Hicks, chair of the Board of Control; and Guy Meadows, director of Great Lakes initiatives at the GLRC.
The three-story, 50,000-square-foot center has three distinct areas: a boathouse for the University’s three research vessels and environmental monitoring buoy network, a complex of research laboratories, and a public area that includes conference facilities and space for K-12 education.
Read more about it from news media stories and view Video News Clips
Michigan Technological University and Arizona State University are leading a new, three-year research study to develop a way to track water flows and water use through a watershed.
The Virtual Water Accounting project is led by Michigan Tech with guidance from an advisory board of business leaders, policymakers and watershed advocates. Principal partners include Arizona State University and the Great Lakes Commission. The Great Lakes Protection Fund is funding the study.
Michigan Technological University has a new dean of engineering. William M. Worek, professor and former head of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), has accepted the post effective July 1. In addition, Worek will serve as the Dave House Professor.