Social Sciences Newsblog

Grant for Historic Landmark Nomination

Published June 16, 2015

PI Patrick Martin (SS) and Co-PI Daniel Trepal (SS) have received a $39,866 grant from the Grand Portage Reservation Tribal Council for the project titled National Historic Landmark Nomination, Minong Mine, Isle Royale National Park, Keweenaw County, Michigan.

From Tech Today.

Invited Paper for Mary Durfee

Published June 3, 2015

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On Friday, May 29, 2015, Associate Professor Mary Durfee (SS) gave an invited paper, The EU in the Arctic: Where will it live? at a conference on the EU in the Arctic held in Dundee, Scotland.

From Tech Today.

The European Union and the Arctic (2015 EU-Arctic Conference)

This conference will bring together academics and practitioners from relevant disciplines such as international law, international relations, political science and marine biology, NGOs, representatives from EU institutions and international organisations to discuss the EU’s potential contribution to enhance Arctic governance. A roadmap for increasing the effectiveness of the EU’s action in the Arctic will be drawn at the end of the conference.

Pan American Researchers Gather in Houghton

Published June 3, 2015

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VIEW THE BIOMASS PIRE FLICKR PHOTO GALLERY

About 40 biofuel and bioenergy researchers from many countries in the Pan American region (from Argentina to Canada) will attend a workshop hosted by the Sustainable Futures Institute at Michigan Tech Wednesday, June 3, 2015, through Friday, June 5, 2015.

The goals of the workshop are to develop a research roadmap report (RRR) with diverse international perspectives and to recommend priority areas for future research. The RRR will be disseminated to funding agencies such as the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and other federal research sponsors in the United States and their equivalents in other Pan American countries, as well as to industry and the general public.

This is the final workshop in the NSF-funded project “RCN-SEES: A Research Coordination Network on Pan American Biofuel and Bioenergy Sustainability“. The project is directed by David Shonnard (ChE) and with co-investigators Barry Solomon (SS), Kathy Halvorsen (SS), Sam Sweitz (SS) and Robert Handler (SF I).

From Tech Today, by David Shonnard.

Bioenergy Across the Americas

The work is part of the Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE), funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Kathy Halvorsen, a professor of natural resource policy at Michigan Tech, helps lead the PIRE research group, which is highly interdisciplinary.

“As we move forward with the project spanning six countries, I am always thinking about how are we going to be able to answer our research questions,” Halvorsen says, adding the project spans social, natural and engineering sciences. “We have to think about how we do our research so we can compare and integrate our data across the countries and disciplines.”

Biomass bridge
Vital aspect in achieving energy sustainability

Barry Solomon, a Tech professor on the PIRE team, noted that Brazil introduced the flex-fuel car engines now seen across the U.S. that can burn both high-ethanol and low-ethanol gas blends, and that bio-based ethanol has been a major boon to an economy that’s contributed to steady growth in recent years.

“The U.S. talks about energy independence, but it’s not (independent),” he said. “Brazil essentially is.”

Woody
U.P. bioelectric effort can follow Wisconsin’s lead

Regardless of the questions yet to be answered, Solomon said he sees biomass as an important part of the U.P.’s electric generation future.

“Biomass should be a part of things here,” he said. “There’s not a massive demand, but it’s far better to get rid of coal. … I think we need a combination of biomass and wind power.”

MICHIGAN TECH HOSTS FOREST BIOENERGY RESEARCHERS

A project this large can be unwieldy, so Halvorsen works with subgroup and country team leaders to effectively pursue their interdisciplinary research in bioenergy. Studying bioenergy naturally builds off multiple disciplines and goes beyond just the global biofuels discussion.

Bioenergy across the Americas

In some ways, the PIRE research is like bioenergy yoga, looking at the best ways to build both flexibility and strength to move gracefully through changing climates and economic markets. From small plantations to spanning continents, the PIRE research seeks sustainability and resiliency using the insight of many disciplines.

MICHIGAN TECH LEADS ON BIOENERGY

Sounds of Research

Michigan Tech has uploaded audio recordings of conversations with various researchers involved in the project — check out their Soundcloud account if you’re interested in hearing them.

Forest Service Support for Richelle Winkler

Published June 3, 2015

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Richelle Winker (SS)/Ecosystem Science Center, has received $39,000 in a Co-op/Joint Agreement-Cost, from the US Dept. of Agriculture, Forest Service for the project, Longitudinal Analysis of Population Redistribution by County Type and in Relation to National Forest and Public Lands.

From Tech Today.

Gina Stevens Recognized for 25 Years of Service

Published June 3, 2015

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Michigan Tech Employee Service Recognition Event

On Wednesday, May 6th, 2015, faculty and staff members, along with their guests, gathered at the Memorial Union Ballroom for an awards dinner recognizing 25, 30, 35, and 40 years of service to Michigan Tech.

Among those recognized for 25 years of service was Social Sciences Departmental Coordinator Gina Stevens.

Henquinet Published in the Journal of Applied Volcanology

Published May 29, 2015

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From Tech Today:

Luke J. Bowman and Kari B. Henquinet (SS) published an article “Disaster Risk Reduction and Resettlement Efforts at San Vicente (Chichontepec) Volcano, El Salvador: Toward Understanding Social and Geophysical Vulnerability” in the Journal of Applied Volcanology. Bowman is a PhD candidate in the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences and Henquinet is the Peace Corps Master’s International Director and a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences.

Research Team Meeting Brings in International Researchers

Published May 29, 2015

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From Tech Today:

by Allison Mills

Researchers across the Americas look to forests for power, transportation, fuel and heat. This weekend and into next week, more than 80 researchers from Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, Uruguay and the US will meet in Houghton to research bioenergy. The work is part of the Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE) through the National Science Foundation.

Kathy Halvorsen (SFRES) is leading the research team meeting. She says bioenergy goes beyond just the biofuels discussion and finding alternative fuel for cars. “This a research team studying how we can help to slow climate change and ensure local energy security,” she says. “We also look to minimize the negative impacts of energy choices and maximize benefits.”

In the PIRE research team meeting, Halvorsen will help lead interdisciplinary discussions and research concerning the socio-economic impacts of different forest bioenergy sources. The results and groundwork, however, require the focused efforts of more than a hundred people.

Wellstead Published in Nature Climate Change

Published May 29, 2015

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Adam Wellstead, Associate Professor of Environmental and Energy Policy, co-authored Opening Up the Black Box of Adaptation Decision-Making published in Nature Climate Change, Vol. 5, June 2015.

Wellstead Published in Handbook on Complexity and Public Policy

Published May 28, 2015

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From Tech Today:

Adam Wellstead, Michael Howlett and Jeremy Rayner published “How useful is complexity theory to policy studies? Lessons from the climate change adaptation literature” in Handbook on Complexity and Public Policy, Robert Geyer and Paul Cairney, Eds., Cheltenham: Elgar Publishing

Walton noted for historic testing instrument

Published May 21, 2015

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The original 17th-century gunpowder testing eprouvette of Joseph Furttenbach

Asst. Professor Steven Walton (Social Sciences) was noted for his contribution to an ongoing project on the “Origins of Firepower” at the Royal Armouries and National Firearms Centre, Leeds [UK] in the Jan. 17-23, 2015 issue of New Scientist. In “Do it Again: What can we find out by re-enacting the science of yesteryear” [paywall*] (pp. 31-35), Richard Webb reported on replication work with early gunpowder testing apparatus being undertaken by Haileigh Robertson, a Ph.D. student at the University of York, and one of Walton’s advisees. Robertson is exploring the philosophical and technical knowledge about gunpowder int eh early 17th century for a Ph.D. in the history of science, and Walton, an expert on historic gunpowder, built a replica of Joseph Furttenbach’s eprouvette from 1627 (see image) for her to use in testing. The New Scientist article says of their work:

Today Robertson is aiming to repeat the eprouvette work using a replica device built by historian Steven Walton of Michigan Technological University in Houghton. It has two vertical supports about 60 centimetres high, with a post suspended between them. Attached to the bottom of the post is a brass lid which sits atop a small powder chamber and priming pan. When gunpowder is ignited in the powder chamber, the force of the explosion should propel the brass lid and post up past a series of ratchets that flip up, and then catch the lid as it begins to fall. The height the lid reaches is a measure of the gunpowder’s relative potency. Robertson’s collaborator Peter Smithurst, an emeritus curator of firearms at the National Firearms Centre, first packs the chamber with modern “black powder”. Technician Trevor Weston approaches cautiously with a long lit taper. I stand ready with the video camera. “I wouldn’t want to stand too close,” says Robertson, “until we know what it does.” What it does, besides make an almighty flash and bang, is hard to discern at first. But when the smoke disperses, the lid is balancing 13 ratchets up, half a metre off the floor. So far, so good. Less successful are gunpowder mixtures prepared using old recipes by Smithurst, a trained chemist. There is the odd fizzer like a Roman candle, and quite a few proverbial flashes in the pan. No one is sure why these mixtures don’t work as well – perhaps the modern stuff is finer-grained, with a larger surface area to encourage ignition. Or maybe the samples have got damp somehow. Archaeologists and historians alike want to understand the factors affecting the potency of early gunpowder. The power and range of early guns depended on the energy it could generate, so gunpowder influenced not only the design of cannons and armour, but also the evolution of battlefield tactics. By reproducing these experiments we get a feel for what was possible – and an idea of the frustrations.

Further experimental and simulation work is planned.

* online this is part of a series of “Reliving five eureka moments lost in history”