Social Sciences Newsblog

On the Road: Durfee Travels to Iceland

Published October 14, 2016

Mary Durfee (SS), participated in the Polar Law Symposium and Arctic Circle held in Akureyri and Reykjavik, Iceland, October 5-9, 2016. She gave a paper, “Free Trade: The Expected Impacts of TTIP and CETA on the Arctic” and chaired a panel devoted to Sovereignty and Its Contestation at the Poles.

Michigan Technological University sponsors US Forest Service Passport in Time Site

Published October 13, 2016

By Heather Powers

In August 2016, the Hiawatha National Forest partnered with Michigan Technological University sponsored a Passport In Time (PIT) project at the former logging settlement of Coalwood. The site was occupied by Finnish Immigrant families who cut cordwood for the Cleveland Cliffs Iron Company between 1900 and 1912. One goal of the project was to assess the damage caused by recent looting activities.

In an image provided by PIT, Professor LouAnn Wurst instructs members of the PIT Crew.

G.R.A.C.E Project Featured in National GIS Publication

Published October 6, 2016

By Amy Spahn

Keweenaw Time Traveler and National Park Service received media attention for their NSF-ITEST GRACE Project collaboration in Directions Magazine, a national GIS periodical. The article, G.R.A.C.E Project team creates ‘time machine’ with GIS, outlines some of the detail of the summer career education program that brought local high school students to work with the KHNP and the Keweenaw Time Traveler team as paid interns.

PhD Research Assistantship Opportunity

Published October 6, 2016

By Amy Spahn

Energy Conservation PhD Research Assistantships at Michigan Technological University – Drs. Chelsea Schelly and Kathleen Halvorsen seek motivated applicants for two fully funded three-year research assistantship positions available for students pursuing a PhD in Environmental and Energy Policy at Michigan Technological University (MTU).

Students will be involved in a National Science Foundation Innovations at the Nexus of Food, Energy, and Water (NSF INFEWS) funded interdisciplinary research project. The project focuses on understanding and seeking ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through conservation of household-scale food, energy, and water. FEW PhD Position Description-1

Department Employment Opportunities

Published September 30, 2016

By Amy Spahn

Positions currently available in the Department of Social Sciences at Michigan Tech:

Assistant Professor of Environmental/Energy Justice – Tenure Track – The Department of Social Sciences at Michigan Technological University invites applications for an Assistant Professor to join an interdisciplinary social sciences faculty. We seek a scholar specializing in environmental and/or energy justice. Candidates with strengths in policy analysis and/or spatial methodologies are especially encouraged to apply. Assistant Professor Environment_Energy Justic

Post Doctoral Position in Bioenergy Development and Sustainability – The Department of Social Sciences at Michigan Technological University invites applications for a one-and-a-half year Post–Doctoral Fellowship, beginning on or about January 1, 2017, focused on the socioecological impacts of sustainable bioenergy development across the Americas. MTU PIRE SE Post-Doc

Lafreniere Co-PI on Grant Tracing Early French Canadian Migration and Settlement Patterns

Published September 20, 2016

By Amy Spahn

Don Lafreniere (SS/GLRC) is Co-Pi on a partnership development grant that has received $197,500 from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The project, “Nouveaux regards sur l’occupation du continent nord-am-ricain par la population canadienne-fran-aise 1760-1914,” is tracing the migration and settlement patterns of French-Canadians from Quebec across the North American continent, including the establishment of communities in the Upper Peninsula. This is a two-year project.

From Tech Today.

On the Road

Published September 16, 2016

By Amy Spahn

News

Don Lafreniere and John Arnold, along with two Copper Country high school students, recently presented a paper at the 22nd Annual Michigan Communities GIS conference held in Boyne Falls, Michigan Sept. 6-8. The presentation highlighted the work of eleven local high school students who partnered with Michigan Tech’s Historical Environments Spatial Analytics Lab and the Keweenaw National Historical Park in their work building GIS datasets, webmap-based National Park visitor guides and learning mobile GIS data collection and analysis in conjunction with the Keweenaw Time Traveler project.

From Tech Today.

Schelly Co-PI on the Project “Reducing Household Food, Energy and Water Consumption: A Quantitative Analysis of Interventions and Impacts of Conservation”

Published September 1, 2016

By Amy Spahn

Dave Watkins is the principal investigator on a research and development project that has received a $1,477,068 grant from the National Science Foundation. Buyung Agusdinata, Chelsea Schelly, Rachael Shwom and Jenni-Louise Evans are co-PIs on the project, “Reducing Household Food, Energy and Water Consumption: A Quantitative Analysis of Interventions and Impacts of Conservation.”

This project starts on Oct. 1 and is scheduled to finish in 2021.

From Tech Today.

Vaidya Published on the Sustainability of Woody Biomass

Published August 17, 2016

By Amy Spahn

Ashma Vaidya, who graduated in summer 2016 with a PhD in Environmental and Energy Policy, has published three papers on the sustainability of woody biomass in the UP for bioenergy:

Vaidya A and AL Mayer. 2014. Use of the participatory approach to develop sustainability assessments for natural resource management. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology 21(4):369-379.

Vaidya A and AL Mayer. 2016. Use of multiple criteria analysis to develop a regional assessment tool for bioenergy production. Biomass and Bioenergy 94:1-11.

Vaidya A and AL Mayer. In press. Criteria and indicators for a bioenergy production industry via stakeholder participation. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology. DOI:10.1080/13504509.2015.1135830

Contact Audrey Mayer for reprints.

From Tech Today.

Rahman Publishes on the Shipbreaking Industry in Bangladesh

Published August 9, 2016

By Amy Spahn

S.M. Mizan Rahman, who graduated in spring 2016 with a PhD in Environmental and Energy Policy, has published three papers on the shipbreaking industry in Bangladesh:

Rahman SMM and AL Mayer. 2015. How social ties influence metal resource flows in the Bangladesh ship recycling industry. Resources, Conservation & Recycling 104(A):254-264.

Rahman SMM, R Handler, AL Mayer. 2016. Life Cycle Assessment of steel in the ship recycling industry in Bangladesh. Journal of Cleaner Production 135:963-971.

Rahman SMM and AL Mayer. 2016. Policy compliance recommendations for international shipbreaking treaties for Bangladesh. Marine Policy 73:122-129.

Contact Audrey Mayer for reprints.

From Tech Today.