Peace Corps Ranks Michigan Tech Tops in the Nation—Again

Erica JonesFor the ninth year in a row, Michigan Technological University ranks as the number one university nationwide for the number of Peace Corps Master’s International (PCMI) students currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers. Michigan Tech has 32 graduate students overseas, earning the University top spot on the Peace Corps’ annual ranking of PCMI and Paul D. Coverdell Fellows graduate schools.

“We have an amazing group of students who enter our program each year from all walks of life,” said Kari Henquinet, director of Michigan Tech’s PCMI program. “They are not only dedicated academically, but also able to apply what they have learned to problem solve and work collaboratively on the ground. Our Master’s International programs are set up to produce scientists and professionals who think creatively, understand social problems and function in multiple cultures. Our graduates go on to work for places like USAID, environmental engineering firms, and non-profit groups such as Doctors Without Borders.”

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Jennifer Donovan.

Fulbright Scholarship for Mary Durfee in Hungary

Mary Durfee in Malta
Mary Durfee in Malta

Professor Mary Durfee, social sciences, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to Corvinus University in Budapest, Hungary, for fall 2015. She will teach a graduate course on international water cooperation and conflict as well as an undergraduate course on writing about international relations. She will also be learning about water management in Hungary. In Spring 2015 she will be a visiting researcher at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. There she will be affiliated with the Department of International Relations, the Institute for Globalisation Studies, and the Arctic Centre.

This is Durfee’s second Fulbright, her first was to Malta. She has returned to that country every year since as a visiting professor at the University of Malta.

From Tech Today.

2013/2014 Social Sciences Colloquia Series

A warm thank you to all our presenters for the 2013-2014 Social Sciences Colloquia Series and Brown Bags.

— Melissa Baird, Colloquia Coordinator


Jorge Garcia Fernandez

  • Think Digital: Photogrammetry on Cultural Heritage Documentation

Sean Gohman

  • Deux Lacs, Deux Moulins, et une Ville: The French Mining Experience in Copper Harbor

John Baeten

  • The Industrial Archaeology and Landscape of the Fairbanks Mining District

Carol Griskavich

  • The Other Calumet: Steel and Subinterns in Southeast Chicagoland, Summer 2013

Mary Durfee

  • “Mind the Gap: Conflicting Legal Rules in the Arctic”

Richelle Winkler & SS4700 Students

  • Exploring the Social Feasibility of Minewater Geothermal in Calumet (presented at the Calumet Public Library in Calumet)

John Arnold

  • Learn to Model, Model to Learn: BIM for IA

Adam Wellstead

  • Night of the Living Dead Theory: Structural-functionalism and Adaptation to Climate Change Policy

Dan Schneider

  • A First-Hand and Historical Perspective on the Practice of Letterpress Printing

Emma Schwaiger & Ankita Mandleia

  • An Interdisciplinary Approach to Understand Pollution: PCBs in Torch Lake

Emma Norman

  • The Power of Water: Renegotiating the Columbia River Treaty

Terry Sharik (Dean of the School of Forest Research and Environmental Science, MTU)

  • The Future of Natural Resource Science at Michigan Tech

Wendy Jepson (Associate Professor of Geography, Texas A & M)

  • “No-win waterscapes”: Household Water Insecurity in Low-Income Communities along the US-Mexico Border

Wendy Jepson Lectures

Wendy JepsonPlease join the social sciences department for two important lectures by Wendy Jepson, associate professor of geography at Texas A&M University, who is sponsored by the Visiting Women and Minority Lecture/Scholar Series.

Today, “Water insecurity as Environmental Justice: The Case of ‘Colonials’ along the US-Mexico Border” will be presented in GLRC 202 at 12:35-1:50 p.m.

Friday, April 25, “No-win waterscapes”: Household Water Insecurity in Low-Income Communities along the US-Mexico Border” will be at AOB 201, Department of Social Sciences Colloquium from 4 to 5 p.m.

More about Jepson’s work can be found online.

From Tech Today.

A Village in Bangladesh

Mizanur RahmanGlobal City Presents “A Village In Bangladesh” Today

“A Village in Bangladesh” will be presented by S. M. Mizanur Rahman, today at 5 p.m., in EERC 103.

Mizanur will present the development disaster caused by shrimp farming in his village and how small producers are left out of the economic development of this product. He will also talk about his work in the community and The Motorcycle Project, an idea he developed to provide capital support and planning skills to the local people, which he plans on implementing this summer. He is now pursuing his PhD in Environmental and Energy Policy at Michigan Tech.

From Tech Today.

A Village In Bangladesh

Global City of Michigan Technological University has posted a video of Mizanur’s presentation on their Facebook page.

Mizanur Presentation

Kathleen Halvorsen Wins Research Award

Kathleen HalvorsenKathleen Halvorsen, whose scholarship bridges social and policy sciences relating to climate change, has been chosen to receive Michigan Technological University’s 2014 Research Award.

Professor Alex Mayer, who nominated Halvorsen for the award, called her “a major force in joining social science with natural science and engineering disciplines.” She is a professor in both the Department of Social Sciences and the School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science.

“[H]er most noteworthy contributions are advancing research into biologically derived fuels, fostering interdisciplinary research and spearheading Michigan Tech’s environmental and energy policy graduate programs,” Mayer said. “Professor Halvorsen has shown a remarkable ability to bring literally dozens of colleagues together to craft proposals and lead projects which advance science and international collaborations across continents.”

Read more at Tech Today, by Marcia Goodrich.

Winkler and Schelly on Energy Prize Committee

Energy MapHoughton County Aiming for $5 Million Energy Prize, with Help from Michigan Tech

Georgetown University is offering a $5 million prize for the American community “that leads the way in energy efficiency,” and a Michigan Technological University student thinks there’s no reason Houghton County shouldn’t win.

“There aren’t a lot of small communities with a great technological university in their midst,” said Abhilash Kantamneni, a graduate student in computer science. “I think we have a shot at it.”

The ad hoc committee includes Kantamneni, Ala, county commissioner Tom Tikkanen of Calumet Township, Michigan Tech social sciences faculty members Richelle Winkler and Chelsea Schelly, Lynn Artman of the School of Technology, Melissa Davis of the nonprofit NewPowerTour, Keweenaw Research Center Director Jay Meldrum, Sam Lockwood of the Keweenaw Geothermal Research Group, Kim Stoker of the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region, Phil Musser, former director of the Keweenaw Economic Development Alliance, and Elmore Reese from Main Street Calumet. Representatives from utility companies UPPCO and SEMCO are participating in the effort, along with energy-conservation businesses and organizations such as Michigan Saves, Efficiency United and BlueTerra.

Read more at Michigan Tech News, by Marcia Goodrich.

Social Sciences in Michigan Tech News

Spiraling Up with Arts and Sustainability in Calumet
March 25, 2016
Birds Abroad: How Oil Palm Affects Habitat in Mexico
February 16, 2016
Connecting People and Geology on Volcanoes
July 30, 2015
Daisuke Minakata Wins Powe Award from ORAU
June 25, 2015
Bioenergy Across the Americas
June 8, 2015
Tapping into Mine Water for Geothermal Energy
April 2, 2015
Graduate Student’s VISTA Broadens as She Earns a Degree Through Volunteer Service
June 27, 2014
Peace Corps Ranks Michigan Tech Tops in the Nation—Again
May 7, 2014
Kathleen Halvorsen Wins Research Award
April 17, 2014
Houghton County Aiming for $5 Million Energy Prize, with Help from Michigan Tech
April 16, 2014
FinnForum X and Retrospection & Respect Remember the Copper Strike of 1913-14 this Weekend
April 9, 2014
Payments to Upstream Landowners to Protect Water Downstream: How Well is that Working
March 13, 2014
For the Love of Steam
March 6, 2014
Alumnus Digs Deep into St. Thomas’s Past
January 31, 2014