With the increased enrollment of students who openly identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and questioning (GLBTQ), the Michigan Tech Safe Place Program is designed to be a comprehensive and in-depth resource to better prepare faculty, staff, and graduate assistants to address the needs of these students. The training program addresses a wide range of terms that GLBTQ students use to define their identities, issues that GLBTQ students often deal with during the coming out process, concerns that GLBTQ students face both in and out of the classroom, ways that faculty, staff, and graduate assistants can create inclusive classroom and office environments, where faculty, staff, and graduate assistants can refer students who need to report harassment, and the on- and off-campus resources available to students. All graduate students are invited to participate in the program. The spring 2013 training times and the online registration form are available at http://safeplace.mtu.edu/register.php.
Representatives from the student insurance office will be on campus during the following times on a weekly basis:
- Mondays 3pm – 5pm
- Thursdays 10am – noon
They will be located in the administration building, Room 206A.
The Department of Biomedical Engineering is now accepting applications for the Kenneth L. Stevenson Biomedical Engineering Summer Research Fellowship Program. The primary goal of the program is to provide deserving undergraduate and beginning graduate students the opportunity to participate in meaningful and intensive biomedical engineering research at Michigan Tech.
The competition is open to undergraduate and early-stage graduate students from all departments who would like to conduct research under the supervision of a biomedical engineering faculty member this summer.
For more information see the website or the BME Facebook page. Interested students may also inquire in the Biomedical Engineering office.
Published in Tech Today.
The Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF) Program provides students with an opportunity to gain and develop research skills with the Department of Energy’s Office of Fossil Energy for 10 weeks over the summer. For 20 years, this program has increased awareness of DOE research opportunities to students pursuing STEM degrees (short for science, technology, engineering and math).
The goal of the program is to improve opportunities for women and minority students in these fields, however all eligible candidates are encouraged to apply before the January 2, 2015 deadline.
Apply now for the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship Program! 
A graduate student at Michigan Tech, Rhianna Williams, is earning a master’s degree far from the ivory tower of the classroom. She’s working as a volunteer with the US Office of Surface Mining VISTA program, helping residents of the Uncompahgre Watershed learn about protecting their water resources.
“I joined for the opportunity to practice what I’d learned in the class out in the field,” she says.
Williams conducts watershed education programs in the schools and monthly water sampling for Riverwatch, a group that monitors the river’s conditions along a 10-mile stretch of the Upper Uncompahgre River.
“I’ve enjoyed working with kids,” she says. “We work with local third-grade teachers to take the class out water sampling every month. They were really excited to know that the data they collected would be used to make decisions about their river.”
VISTA, originally Volunteers in Service to America, was founded in 1965 as a national service program designed to fight poverty in the US. In 1993, VISTA was incorporated into the AmeriCorps network of programs.
The OSM/VISTA and Peace Corps Coverdell programs offer graduate students the opportunity to combine academic study with supervised, practical field experience and research. Michigan Tech has partnered with OSM/VISTA programs since 2012
For the full story, see Michigan Tech News.
Allan Comp of the Office of Surface Mining (OSM), Department of the Interior will give a presentation, “The OSM/VISTA–Michigan Tech Partnership” on Monday, March 24, at 5 p.m. in Dow 642.
Comp will discuss how OSM/VISTA partners with local organizations to provide VISTA volunteers working in economic rejuvenation and environmental restoration in legacy mining communities and watersheds. Comp directs the Western Hardrock Watershed and Appalachian Coal Country teams, the two primary organizations linking OSM to rural communities. Michigan Tech has partnered with OSM to enable students to earn a graduate degree while participating in the OSM/VISTA program.
Comp’s presentation will be directed toward Michigan Tech students and faculty with an interest in details of how the program works. The talk is free and open to the public. Pizza will be provided. More information about the program can be obtained at the Michigan Tech Graduate School web site.
Published in Tech Today.
The U.S. Office of Postsecondary Education is soliciting applications for the Erma Byrd Scholarship Program, which funds students pursuing industrial health and safety studies. Scholarships of up to $10,000 are available for domestic graduate students and $2,500-5,000 for domestic undergraduate students; scholarships are tied to a service obligation requiring graduates to work in a position related to their studies for at least one year. Approximately $200,000 is available for 41 awards; applications are due April 25.
More information is available at: ed.gov/programs/ermabyrd/index.html.
The Office of Compliance, Integrity and Safety will hold an educational session, “Conflict of Interest,” from noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, March 27. Registration ends at 5 p.m., March 25.
REGISTER FOR CONFLICT OF INTEREST.
An email confirming the reservation will include the location.
This session is designed to provide faculty, postdocs and research/program staff with an understanding of what conflict of interest means and how it relates to researchers and other employees of Michigan Tech.
Some of the topics covered will include:
- Conflict of interest categories at Michigan Tech
- Federal regulations
- Situational understanding
Beverages and desserts will be available. Bring your lunch.
For more information, contact Carole Noonan at 487-1148 or at csnoonan@mtu.edu .
The Smithsonian Office of Fellowships and Internships (OFI) is currently accepting applications for the 2014 James Smithson Fellowship Program.
Named after our founder and funded through the generosity of past Smithsonian National Board Chair Paul Neely, this premier fellowship offers post-doctoral scholars in the fields of science, the humanities and the arts an opportunity to study the intersection between research and public policy in our nation’s capital.
This program combines the best of the Smithsonian’s vast scholarship and collections with its unparalleled access to leading thought leaders and policy-makers.
Fellowships last one year and include a stipend of $50,000.
Application deadline for the 2014 cycle is January 15, 2014.
Candidates must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents, and not more than five years beyond receipt of their Ph.D. degree by December 31, 2013. Candidates with professional degrees are also eligible to apply.
Stephanie Tubman, an alumna of the Peace Corps Master’s International (PCMI) program, has been named American Geosciences Institute/Schlumberger Geoscience Communication Fellow. Tubman will be working with AGI’s Critical Issues Program to disseminate geoscience information to help support decision-making at the federal, state and municipal levels.
Following her undergraduate degree at Colgate University, she completed an internship at the US Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory and enrolled in the PCMI program in geohazards mitigation.
During her two-year tour in Guatemala with the Peace Corps, she was assigned to a municipal environmental office, collaborating with local officials on water management, environmental science education and ecotourism projects.
Published in Tech Today.