Drone Flies Over Quincy Smelter to Search for Potential Cleanup Issues

Photo by Kurt Hauglie - Daily Mining Gazette
Photo by Kurt Hauglie – Daily Mining Gazette

A team from the Michigan Technological University Research Institute (MTRI) in Ann Arbor, Michigan flew a drone over the Quincy Smelter in Ripley, MI to take imagery of the site with true color and infrared cameras.  The images will be used to search for old infrastructure and drainage pipes that may not be marked on a map.

This project is a partnership between the Keweenaw National Historical Park (KNHP), MTRI,  Tim Scarlett, and Don Lafreniere along with a group of local high school students.

Click here to read the complete article featured in the Daily Mining Gazette.

MTU Archaeology Project Digs up Bits, Pieces of Keweenaw County History

Field School
Graham Jaehnig/Daily Mining Gazette Michigan Tech industrial archaeology student James Schwaderer stands by some excavations on the site of the former Astor House.

The Department of Social Sciences’ 2017 summer industrial archaeological field school in Keweenaw County was featured in a story in The Daily Mining Gazette.

“Part of the goal of it is to train our students in archaeological field work,” said Professor LouAnn Wurst, who is leading the school.

At the same time, the school is being conducted in conjunction with the Department of Natural Resources and the state to look at Copper Harbor’s range lighthouse keeper’s residence, and locate the Astor House, which is believed to have stood behind the house.

Click here to read the full story.

Graduate Student Prehoda In the News

image144321-persABC-10 News aired a story, about the potential for using solar energy in the UP, quoting Michigan Tech graduate student Emily Prehoda.

She is working on a survey that will be conducted in L’Anse next fall, a collaborative effort of the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region, the Village of L’Anse, WPPI Energy, and Michigan Tech’s Keweenaw Research Center and Department of Social Sciences.

Residents of the village buy their power from WPPI Energy, a non-profit company.

Prehoda was also featured in USA Today (“The US could prevent a lot of deaths by switching from coal to solar“), and on NBC and CBS with researcher Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE).

Also in print, Joshua Pearce (MSE/ECE) and social sciences PhD Student Emily Prehoda coauthored, potential lives saved by replacing coal with solar photovoltaic electricity production in the U.S., in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews that can be read here.

 

 

Richelle Winkler Wins 2017 Faculty Distinguished Service Award

Richelle Winkler
Richelle Winkler

Richelle Winkler, an associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences, is the recipient of the 2017 Faculty Distinguished Service Award.

The award is intended to complement the Distinguished Teaching and the Distinguished Research Awards already established at the University. It recognizes service to the University community that has significantly improved the quality of some aspect of campus life.

University Provost Jacqueline Huntoon says, “The faculty Distinguished Service Award Committee maintains very high standards and are only willing to make awards to individuals whose actions are particularly meritorious. Dr. Winkler exemplifies the characteristics that the award is intended to honor. She is an outstanding scholar whose efforts benefit the University and our community.”

Read the full story.

Will Solar Power Work in the U.P.?

Emily Prehoda
Emily Prehoda

ABC-10 News aired a story about the potential for using solar energy in the UP, quoting Michigan Tech graduate student Emily Prehoda. She is working on a survey that will be conducted in L’Anse next fall, a collaborative effort of the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region, the Village of L’Anse, WPPI Energy, and Michigan Tech’s Keweenaw Research Center and Department of Social Sciences. Residents of the village buy their power from WPPI Energy, a non-profit company. See here.