Social Sciences Newsblog

Examining Interconnection and Net Metering Policy for Distributed Generation in the United States

Published November 7, 2017

Chelsea Schelly, Joshua Pearce, and Edward P. Louie (who completed an MS in Environmental and Energy Policy at Michigan Tech) published a new article, “Examining interconnection and net metering policy for distributed generation in the United States,” which was published in Renewable Energy Focus.

Papers Presented at Social Science History Association Conference

Published November 6, 2017

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Social Sciences History Association — J. Baeten, D. Lafreniere, D. Trepal, S. Scarlett, and L. Rouleau

John Baeten, Don Lafreniere, Laura Rouleau, Sarah Scarlett, and Dan Trepal attended and presented papers at the 2017 Social Science History Association Conference in Montreal, Quebec. Papers include:

J. Baeten, N. Langston, D. Lafreniere. Navigating Impaired Waters: Water Quality Legacies of Historic Iron Mining in Minnesotas Mesabi Range. L. Rouleau. Gendering Privacy: Public School Lockerrooms in the Early 20th Century.
D. Lafreniere, S. Scarlett, D. Trepal, J. Arnold. Capturing and Contextualizing History- Using Public Participatory Historical GIS to Build a Spatial Data Infrastructure of Historical Landscapes and Environments.

S. Scarlett, D. Lafreniere, J. Arnold, D. Trepal. Historical GIS and Public History: Engaging Todays Communities with Yesterdays Changing Places.

D. Trepal, D. Lafreniere, S. Scarlett, J. Arnold. Big Data for Industrial Heritage and Archaeology: the Copper Country Historical Spatial Data Infrastructure.

Burkett Awarded a Michigan Sea Grant Graduate Student Research Fellowship

Published October 19, 2017

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Erin Burkett, Environmental and Energy Policy PhD student, was awarded a $78,497 Michigan Sea Grant Graduate Student Research Fellowship. As a fellow, Erin will work with her faculty advisor Dr. Richelle Winkler and an agency sponsor at the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (Tracy Kolb) on a project that supports existing Great Lakes research. The awarded project, titled “I once caught a fish “THIS BIG”: Using Participatory Photovoice to Understand Michigan’s Great Lakes Anglers”, will explore the reasons Michigan residents participate in Great Lakes recreational fishing.

Wellstead Co-Author of Paper Analyizing the Development of a Complex Policy Mix

Published October 19, 2017

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Adam Wellstead co-authored a paper “Policy Mixes and their Alignment over Time: Patching and Stretching in the Oil Sands Reclamation Regime in Alberta, Canada” for a Special Issue on Policy Mixes: Aligning Instruments for Biodiversity Conservation and Ecosystem Service Provision in the Journal Environmental Policy and Governance.

Baeten, Langston, and Lafreniere Publish Article: “A Spatial Evaluation of Historic Iron Mining Impacts on Current Impaired Waters in Lake Superior’s Mesabi Range”

Published October 11, 2017

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Uncategorized

John Baeten, Nancy Langston and Don Lafreniere published the article, “A spatial evaluation of historic iron mining impacts on current impaired waters in Lake Superior’s Mesabi Range,” in the international journal, Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment. The article compares historic mining intensity in Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range with current impaired waters data to show the utility of historical datasets to understand current environmental challenges at landscape scales. The authors present a novel spatial approach that lands managers and policy makers can apply to other landscapes to assess the effects of past mining activity on watershed health.

You can read the article at the following link:

http://rdcu.be/wvHW

Lafreniere Recipient of Innovative or Out of Class Teaching Award

Published September 25, 2017

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Don Lafreniere, after nomination through the Deans’ Teaching Showcase, has been selected to receive the 2017 Innovative or Out of Class Teaching award from the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL). Lafreniere was selected based on his work with forward thinking technologies and his unique approaches to active learning.

Recipients are asked to make a 30-45 minute presentation, sharing the work they are doing that has drawn this recognition. Don will be sharing his work on October 10 at 1:00. Click here to learn more.

Congratulations Don!

Henquinet Publishes “Women’s Rights and Transnational Aid Programs in Niger”

Published September 22, 2017

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Kari Henquinet’s essay, Women’s Rights and Transnational Aid Programs in Niger: The Conundrums and Possibilities of Neoliberalism and Legal Pluralism, was published in the new book In Human Rights Encounter Legal Pluralism, Eva Brems, Giselle Corradi and Mark Goodale, eds. Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2017.

In Print: International, Interdisciplinary, and Transdisciplinary Research

Published September 22, 2017

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Students, faculty and community members in Erongarícuaro, Mexico

Erin Pischke and Kathy Halvorsen are co-authors of a newly-published article “Barriers and Solutions to Conducting Large International, Interdisciplinary Research Projects” in Environmental Management.

Pischke also had a blog post published AESS Voices about the challenges of conducting transdisciplinary research titled “Practicing What We Preach: Reflections on the Pros and Cons of Transdisciplinary Research in Erongaricuaro, Mexico”

Langston Publishes New Book on Climate Change & Toxics in the Lake Superior Basin

Published September 14, 2017

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Nancy Langston published a new book titled “Sustaining Lake Superior” (Yale University Press, Fall 2017).

“How can communities help sustain the health of Lake Superior in the face of mining, climate change, forest change, invasive species, and emerging chemicals of concern? The challenges facing Lake Superior are many–yet local, regional, and international communities overcame enormous threats to the lake’s ecosystems in the past century.

Sustaining Lake Superior asks: What can we learn from the recoveries around Lake Superior over the past century, as we face new interconnected challenges from climate change, synthetic chemicals, and forest change?”

Retrieved from http://www.sustaininglakesuperior.com/

Carter Publishes Article on Gendered Expectations and Women Farmland Owners

Published September 12, 2017

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Angie Carter authored a paper, “Placeholders and Changemakers: Women Farmland Owners Navigating Gendered Expectations” in Rural Sociology Volume 82, Issue 3 September 2017 Pages 499–523.