Research Archives | Page 8 of 27 | Social Sciences Newsblog

Keweenaw Time Traveler featured in American Quarterly

Published October 9, 2018

The Keweenaw Time Traveler project is featured in the current issue of American Quarterly, the academic journal of the American Studies Association. This special issue, dedicated to Digital Humanities, highlights eight publicly-engaged projects using digital and spatial technologies to engage important issues in American culture today. The collaborative nature of this project is reflected in the group of authors: Sarah Fayen Scarlett (SS) and Don Lafreniere (SS); Dan Trepal and John D. M. Arnold, PhD candidates and recent graduate in Industrial Heritage and Archaeology; and Robert Pastel (CS). The article is open-access for three months, and the other projects are listed here.

On the Road

Published October 8, 2018

By Heather Powers

Melissa Baird (SS), attended the Association of Critical Heritage Studies Association (ACHS) at Zhejiang University in Hangzhous, China in September.

ACHS is an international organization on which Baird serves as the organization’s secretary.

The Changing Face of the Great Lakes Fishing Community

Published October 7, 2018

By Heather Powers

Richelle Winkler was featured in a news story in Michigan Tech News.

Recent research proves the stereotype that fishing is a “dad sport” is no longer accurate. Building on earlier research that found the number of people who fish has been steadily declining, a new study conducted by researchers at Michigan Tech and funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, evaluates the shifting demographics within the angling community and looks to determine how the changing composition may impact fishery management decisions.

Among the major findings is that female fishers make up a growing proportion of anglers in the Great Lakes region, as younger generations of women are more likely to fish than their mothers and grandmothers. The increasing number of female anglers in the younger angling community, however, is not sufficient to reverse the overall decline in anglers.

Read the full story on mtu.edu/news.

WWI Trench Construction Starts Today

Published September 7, 2018

By Heather Powers

The next phase in the construction of the World War I immersive firing trench takes place over the next two days. The 100-foot-long, five-foot-deep trench will open Monday, Sept. 24. The trench is part of “World War I & the Copper Country,” a community-wide commemoration of the Copper Country’s involvement in the First World War.

The actual digging of the trench will begin this morning. Organizers say the contractor is expected to arrive at around 8:30 a.m. with the digging to begin sometime later.

Volunteers are needed for the construction of the firing trench tomorrow (Sept. 8). Last month, the Michigan Tech football team filled about 2,500 burlap sandbags that will be used for the trench.

Those willing to volunteer should come to the trench site near the intersection of U.S. 41 and MacInnes Drive at 10 a.m. tomorrow or check http://ww1cc.mtu.edu/2018/09/trench-updates for the latest information. Spread the word.

Students Create Web Map using GIS

Published August 21, 2018

By Amy Spahn

Student interns from Calumet and Houghton High Schools, under the guidance of Don Lafreniere (SS/GLRC), Ryan Williams (GISP/GLRC) and students from the Department of Social Sciences, recently launched a new WebGIS for the Calumet and Laurium region. The map can be found at calumetmap.com.

The WebGIS is the beginning of a multi-year partnership between many local organizations including Michigan Tech Social Sciences, the Geospatial Research Facility, Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region (WUPPDR), Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance (KEDA) and local municipalities to create a regional geographic information system (GIS) for local planning, economic development, heritage management, tourism and health promotion.

The WebGIS is an output of the NSF-funded Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers, “GRACE- GIS Resources and Applications for Career Education” project. GRACE is a multi-institution collaboration to bring GIS technologies to Michigan’s high school educators and intensive community-based internship experiences to high school students.

More about the GRACE project at Michigan Tech can be found in Unscripted.

On the Road

Published July 30, 2018

By Heather Powers

Angie Carter presented at the Rural Sociological Society annual meeting in Portland, Oregon on July 27 and July 28th.

Carter also presented “Photovoice and Community Development: Women in Agriculture and the Transformation of Rural Spaces,” with her collaborator Claudia M. Prado-Meza (Universidad de Colima) and facilitated a panel “Putting the Sociological Imagination into Practice: Place, Power, and Praxis” with collaborators Ahna Kruzic (Pesticide Action Network North America,Oakland, California) and Gabrielle Roesch-McNally (USFS Pacific Northwest Research Station, Corvallis, Oregon).

She also took part in a book reading and author talk about activism on July 30th at the Corvallis Public Library in Corvallis, Oregon with co-authors Kruzic and Roesch-McNally. Carter read her essay, “Homecoming,” about Iowans’ resistance to the Dakota Access pipeline, included in the recently published edited volume “We Rise to Resist: Voices from a New Era in Women’s Political Action” (McFarland 2018).

In Print

Published June 25, 2018

By Heather Powers

Barry Solomon (SS Emeritus) and Adam Wellstead (SS) co-authored “Shooting for Perfection: Hawaii’s Goal of 100% Renewable Energy Use” in Case Studies in the Environment.

Wellstead on Policy Mechanisms

Published June 13, 2018

By Amy Spahn

Adam Wellstead co-authored “Policy Mechanisms” in the Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance.

Pischke Co-Authors Article on Transdisciplinary Research

Published April 24, 2018

By Amy Spahn

Erin Pischke is one of the authors of the article, “Practicing what we preach: Reflections on the pros and cons of transdisciplinary research in Erongarícuaro, Mexico”. Revista Vínculos, Inicio 3(1).

ABSTRACT:
In November 2016, a group of students from the Americas participated
in an Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research funded
two-week course organized by professors from the National
Autonomous University of Mexico. The aim was to teach students and
young researchers how to collaborate with non-scientists to conduct
socioecological systems research in a transdisciplinary manner. This
article will review the benefits as well as the challenges to doing so.
It concludes with recommendations that other research teams can
follow when conducting similar research that crosses disciplinary and
international borders.

Schelly and Winkler Take Part in Community Solar Effort

Published April 24, 2018

By Amy Spahn

Chelsea Schelly and Richelle Winkler are part of the team looking at community solar in the villages of L’Anse and Baraga. The project is aimed at increasing low-to-moderate income household access to the benefits of rural public power community solar programs. For more information on this, read DEED grant spurs community solar effort in Upper Peninsula on the American Public Power Association website.

Category: Research