Category: Research

Schelly Publishes on Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards

RPSChelsea Schelly (SS) has published the following papers: Schelly, C. “Implementing Renewable Energy Portfolio Standards: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly in a Two State Comparison.” Energy Policy. Article in press; Corrected proof available online.

Schelly, C., and Price, J. (2014). “Utilizing GIS to Examine the Relationship Between State Renewable Portfolio Standards and the Adoption of Renewable Energy Technologies.” ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information 3(1), 1-17.

From Tech Today.

Nancy Langston Educates about Mining Recommendations

Professor Nancy Langston (SS) produced a webinar to help educate the public about new recommendations for mining in the Lake Superior Basin, issued by the Lake Superior Binational Forum, of which she is a US member.

From Tech Today.

Mining Recommendations Webinar with Nancy Langston

Dr. Nancy Langston explains the Lake Superior Binational Forum’s recommendations for responsible mining in the Lake Superior basin in this webinar produced in December 2013.

Watch the video from the Lake Superior Binational Forum.

Responsible Mining Recommendations from the Lake Superior Binational Forum

For two years, the Lake Superior Binational Forum has been examining all aspects of mining operations in the Lake Superior basin to see how mining affects water and land resources and whether mine operations can be responsibly conducted to minimize impacts.

Read more at the Lake Superior Binational Forum.

Winkler’s class presents on geothermal heating from mine water

Prof. Richelle Winkler’s class on community engagement reported their findings on the feasibility of using billions of gallons of water flooding area copper mines as a reservoir for geothermal heating in Calumet.  Their study, though largely nontechnical, was well received by an audience at the CLK commons, many of whom wanted to know more about the technical possibilities and limitations.  Winkler emphasized that it was up to the community to decide how to pursue the ideas — whether doing it as a public utility, a publi-private partnership, or however — and referred them to the class’s report on the topic and to a number of experts in the room, including staff from the Keweenaw Research Center, which has already installed geothermal mine water heating and cooling system.

The public event was picked up by numerous news outlets: on campus, locally, as far away as Indiana, and by various tech and mining blogs.

Green Lecture: Technology, Nature & Society: Seeing the Social in the Materials of Everyday Life

Chelsea SchellyGreen Lecture: Technology, Nature & Society: Seeing the Social in the Materials of Everyday Life
By Dr. Chelsea Schelly, Assistant Professor, MTU Dept. of Social Sciences
Date & Time: Wednesday, December 11, 7:00—8:30 pm
Location: G002, Hesterberg Hall, Forestry Building, Michigan Tech

Cost: FREE Enjoy coffee & tea! (Participants are encouraged to bring cookies!)

The technologies that we use in our everyday life – from electricity and transportation technologies, to cell phones and computers, to foods – impact the environment and the ways we relate to one another and to our communities.

Read more at the College of Engineering Blog.

Lecture to address technologies’ impacts on everyday life TONIGHT, Dec. 11, at Michigan Tech

Her talk is sponsored by the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, Michigan Tech’s Department of Social Sciences, the Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society, the Keweenaw Unitarian Universalist Fellowship and the Keweenaw Land Trust.

Read more at Keweenaw Now.

Halvorsen Awarded Interdisciplinary Science Integration Grant

Kathleen Halvorsen (SS/SFRES) has received a $200,000 grant to study interdisciplinary science teamwork associated with investigating the socioecological impacts of bioenergy development.

The InterAmerican Institute for Global Change Research issued the call for Interdisciplinary Science Integration Grant proposals that study the integration of social and natural sciences.

Read more at Tech Today, by Danny Messinger.