Social Sciences Newsblog

In Print: Baeten Essay on Post-Mining Landscapes

Published August 31, 2017

An essay by John Baeten (Social Sciences), titled “Filling Mines with Fish: Rebranding the Mesabi Range as a Recreational Landscape” has been published by The Living Landscape Observer. Baeten’s essay explores the complex story of Minnesota’s Mesabi Iron Range, tracing the effects of heritage tourism and environmental reclamation on a region long known as a center of extractive industry.

Winkler and Prehoda Present in L’Anse

Published August 24, 2017

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L’Anse community meeting gauges interest in possible community solar garden

By Donny Miller | WLUC TV 6

Posted: Tue 9:31 PM, Aug 22, 2017

L’ANSE, Mich. (WLUC) – The Village of L’Anse held a community meeting Tuesday to gauge the interest in creating a community solar garden.

The potential location for the solar garden would be the industrial park near the Bishop Baraga Memorial on Lambert Road. It could power up to 12 whole homes and be split into 200 shares that the community would be able to buy into.

This meeting was hosted by the Upper Peninsula Solar Technical Assistance and Resource Team (UPSTART). UPSTART is comprised of members from Michigan Tech, WPPI Energy, and the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region.

Community members that attended this meeting were given quick presentation on the potential solar garden. Afterwards, they were asked a few questions to gauge their interest in having one in L’Anse.

“We want to know is this going to work in L’Anse? But also, do folks in L’Anse want this to happen,” said Emily Prehoda, UPSTART Michigan Tech Grad Student Representative. “That’s kind of what we’re getting out of tonight. It’s supposed to be informational for them, but also informational for us. We want to know, do they want this to happen?”

UPSTART will be reviewing the responses after Tuesday’s meeting and going from there. If the responses are positive, construction on the new solar garden could start as soon as summer of 2018.

To see more story’s on the meeting follow the following links:

ABC 10

Keweenaw Report

Banerjee, Prehoda, Sidortsov, and Schelly Author Paper on Energy Justice Potential of Renewable Electricity

Published August 22, 2017

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Aparajita Banerjee, Emily Prehoda, Roman Sidortsov (SS) and Chelsea Schelly (SS) authored “Renewable, ethical? Assessing the energy justice potential of renewable electricity.” in AIMS ENERGY. Read the article here.

Schelly Publishes Book – Dwelling in Resistance

Published August 4, 2017

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Chelsea Schelly’s newest book “Dwelling in Resistance” is now available from Rutgers University Press.

Abstract:

Most Americans take for granted much of what is materially involved in the daily rituals of dwelling. In Dwelling in Resistance, Chelsea Schelly examines four alternative U.S. communities—“The Farm,” “Twin Oaks,” “Dancing Rabbit,” and “Earthships”—where electricity, water, heat, waste, food, and transportation practices differ markedly from those of the vast majority of Americans.

Schelly portrays a wide range of residential living alternatives utilizing renewable, small-scale, de-centralized technologies. These technologies considerably change how individuals and communities interact with the material world, their natural environment, and one another. Using in depth interviews and compelling ethnographic observations, the book offers an insightful look at different communities’ practices and principles and their successful endeavors in sustainability and self-sufficiency.

Drone Flies Over Quincy Smelter to Search for Potential Cleanup Issues

Published July 27, 2017

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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.

Winkler Discusses U.P. Energy on Public TV 13 Media Meet

Published June 28, 2017

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Richelle Winkler recently appeared on the Public TV 13 program Media Meet for a conversation about energy and the possibilities for renewable generation, local development, and transmission upgrades in the Upper Peninsula.

Click he re to watch the video.

Sidortsov Publishes Chapter in Governance of Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas

Published June 28, 2017

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Roman Sidortsov authored a chapter, “The Russian Offshore Oil and Gas Regime: When Tight Control Means Less Order”, in Governance of Arctic Offshore Oil and Gas published by Routledge.

Click here to see the summary

New Funding for L’Anse Community Solar Study

Published June 9, 2017

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Richell Winkler (SS/GLRC) is the principal investigator on a project that has received $17,128 contract with the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Regions (WUPPDR). The project is, “L’Anse Community Solar Study.”

This is a one year project.

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

Published June 8, 2017

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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

Published June 7, 2017

By Heather Powers

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.

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.