- Join us for Coffee Conversations - Tues Feb 7 3:05-4:00.
- Its Winter Carnival - No classes on Thursday and Friday enjoy!!
- Make sure to check out the Students for Sustainability and Keweenaw Youth for Climate Action snow sculpture outside the DOW during and after all-nighter.
- Check out the full list of Winter Carnival Events to get in on the action.
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Social Scientists in Action
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- Congratulations to Caitlyn Sutherlin on her successful research grant in the MTU's Fall 2022 Ecosystem Science Center competition. Her project, "Understanding Community Connections with Nature in California, El Salvador, " has been selected for funding at $1,000. Dr. Kari Henquinet and Dr. Angie Carter are co-PIs.
- Congrats to Dr. Angie Carter and her colleague, Dr. Andrea Basche (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), on the success of their USDA-SARE North Central Research & Education Grant Pre-Proposal--"Meeting needs at the margins: Building networks to support "missed" land stewards". Their project was one of 37 selected from a pool of 141 pre-proposals to submit a full proposal later this spring.
- Congratulations to Dr. Melissa Baird and Dr. Kat Hannum, who, along with Dr. Will Cantrell, Dr. Wayne Gersie, and Dr. Tamar Semerjian have been awarded Sloan Foundation funding for their project which aims to strengthen cross-institutional collaboration and support the development of a mentoring model that supports STEM student-athletes to and through graduate education.
- Dr. Angie Carter and her co-author Dr. Rebecca Christoffel have published "Supporting Women Landowners in Wetland Conservation" in Society & Natural Resources. The article analyzes data from a state-wide survey in Iowa and finds that a lack of experience with and misinformation about wetlands, coupled with a lack of access to needed conservation knowledge networks, limits conservation action for women landowners, no matter their age cohort.
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Other Student Announcements
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- Looking to talk with one of your professors? Their office hours have been updated on their faculty profile pages on the department website.
- The new Hancock pilot shuttle service will begin running on Monday, January 30th, until April 28th.
- The shuttle picks up at the MUB and has four drop points in downtown Hancock.
- It runs every 20 minutes.
- We are in desperate need for more public transit options so please consider this service to get to Hancock! The permanence of the service depends on its usage.
- The second annual campus sustainability leadership awards!
- Self-nominations are welcome; nominations from others are encouraged.
- Nominations are due by Feb. 15.
- Award recipients will be informed by February 24 and recognized at an event in early April.
- The awards will recognize a faculty member, a staff member, and a student on campus who has made significant contributions to advancing sustainability.
- Professional Development Mini-Grant
- Grants of up to $500 per year are available.
- These awards are competitive and will be awarded to the applicants who best make the argument that the professional activity will support the students’ learning, professional goals, and build important skills in ways that our usual curriculum cannot offer. Students with a strong history of departmental participation, academic achievement, and faculty support will be prioritized.
- The Undergraduate Committee will evaluate proposals and announce grants in February.
- Deadline: February 10
- Sculpture & Ecology (ART 3850)
- In the fall of 2023 join Professor Lisa Gordillo in studying environmental sculpture, low-impact building, ecological thinking, sustainability, and community-engaged arts practices.
- As part of the class, students will also complete a large-scale local arts project, building the first Keweenaw Nature Megaphone.
- It's a HASS course, with no prerequisites, and open to all majors.
- Any questions can be directed to gordillo@mtu.edu.
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Upcoming Conferences, Webinars, and Talks
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Please join us on Wednesdays, 2-3:45 pm EST, February - April for a weekly seminar series “Ge-izhi-mawanji’idiyang dazhindamang gidakiiminaan” (“the way in which we meet to talk about our earth”).
- The seminar series is an educational partnership between Michigan Technological University, Keweenaw Bay Ojibwa Community College, and Great Lakes Indigenous Peoples to enhance learning about our shared environment.
- In this seminar, Great Lakes Indigenous knowledge holders share cultural, ecological, and governance knowledge critical to the resilience of our shared environment, and engage in timely dialogue on matters of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI).
- The goals are to increase our understanding of the diverse perspectives and practices in our region, and to continue to build and strengthen a sustainable partnership between our schools and communities into the future.
- If you have any questions about the seminar, please contact Erika Vye at ecvye@mtu.edu or Valoree Gagnon at vsgagnon@mtu.edu.
- All sessions are in-person unless otherwise noted; meet in Room 144, U. J. Noblet Forestry Building, MTU. For noted virtual sessions please join via Zoom.
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Jobs and Other Opportunities
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- The Waino Wahtera Center has extended their deadline for job applications.
- There is still time to apply if you are interested in being an ExSel Peer Mentor, a Success Coaches, a Peer Teaching Assistant, an OTL, or Peer Mentor.
- You can still apply until March 17, 2023.
- They are looking for about 20 to 30 more people.
- Dr. Chelsea Schelly has several funded opportunities to engage in hourly research work.
- Please get in touch with Dr. Schelly (cschelly@mtu.edu) if you are interested in quantitative or qualitative data analysis and/or literature reviews and paper writing associated with household consumption, energy transitions, resiliency planning, and other sustainability related topics.
- Student jobs at Isle Royale
- Work as a GS-04 Pathways Student Trainee (Recreation Fee Clerk) or GS-05 Pathways Student Trainee (Recreation Fee Technician).
- Both positions collect entrance fees and issue Federal Recreation Passes, provide directions and information about Isle Royale National Park, issue permits for campers and boaters, and explain what makes Isle Royale such an amazing place for park visitors.
- Both positions are open through 2/10 or when 50 applications are received, whichever occurs first.
- Climate Leaders Academy
- CLA is a two-semester program with the goal of providing formal climate training and professional development to fellows through direct engagement with national and international climate change frameworks, formalized mentoring and collaboration with a diverse set of institutions.
- CLA-Fellows will be entitled to the following benefits:
- $10,000 stipend ($5,000 per semester)
- Four transferable course credits
- All travel expenses covered (to and from kickoff workshop, climate change conferences, etc.)
- One-on-one mentoring by a CLA faculty member
- Tuition coverage for CLA course
- Applications are due March 15 at 11:59 p.m. CDT.
- Student Research Grant Applications
- Student Research Grants are available for graduate and undergraduate students whose advisors are affiliated with the GLRC.
- The grants are intended to provide students an opportunity to gain experience in writing competitive grants and to perform research they would not be able to attempt due to funding limitations.
- Allowable expenditures may include supplies, services, equipment, travel, and personnel.
- Funded students are expected to participate/volunteer for at least one GLRC activity during the grant period.
- A final research report is due within 30 days of the grant end date.
- Please read the GLRC Student Research Grants Guide for further information about grant terms, proposal instructions, and evaluation criteria.
- Please submit the application and proposal as one PDF document to Jackie Gebhardt at grlcadmin-l@mtu.edu by the end of the day on March 1st.
- FoodCorps application is open.
- FoodCorps partners with schools and communities to nourish kids’ health, education, and sense of belonging.
- We are currently accepting applications for our next cohort (Aug ‘23-July ‘24) of Service Members.
- Each year, we have Public Health AmeriCorps Service Members partner with K-12 schools for a full school year teaching kids to grow, cook, and love the nourishing foods that celebrate their cultures and communities—and help schools serve more of those foods, too.
- Sites are available in Michigan (Detroit, Petoskey, Flint, and near Alpena) and throughout the country.
- Applications are open through March 27, 2023, for next year's cohort.
- Benefits of service in Michigan include a $33,000 stipend paid bi-weekly (this is a full-time, 11-month commitment), a $6,895 Segal Education Award upon successful completion of service, health, dental and vision insurance, as well as student loan forbearance.
- Questions can be directed to erin.wenk@foodcorps.org.
- DNR hiring hundreds of seasonal positions
- The hourly rate starts at $15.
- To express interest, provide your contact info and work location(s) where you're interested in working.
- We're also hiring seasonal park rangers. These positions are paid $19.39 - $27.26 an hour and receive state employment benefits.
- Undergraduate students with an interest in conducting sustainability relevant research should consider applying for the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (due Feb 10) and/or the Undergraduate Research Internship Program (Due March 24).
- Thanks to the Tech Forward Initiative on Sustainability and Resilience, there is additional funding this year to support sustainability relevant research through these programs.
- The program descriptions are quite detailed, but if you would like some extra support to help connect with potential faculty mentors, please reach out to Alan Turnquist at alturnqu@mtu.edu.
- Apply for Undergraduate Research Internships
- The internship program will run from September 2023 through mid-March 2024 and is open to any undergraduate student on campus with an identified faculty research mentor. Faculty and students who are already working together are welcome to apply.
- Pavlis Honors College will provide $960 in funding for the student intern, with the expectation that faculty will provide equivalent matching funds to be dispensed concurrently, resulting in a total of $1,920 paid hourly over the course of the internship.
- Frank Chernosky Campus Climate Ambassador Award
- This award in his name consists of three forms of student support during the 2023-2024 school year:
- a partial tuition scholarship ($8,000)
- funds for professional development and/or applied work (up to $1,600)
- a formal mentorship by campus and/or external professionals.
- To be considered, an applicant must be a full-time undergraduate student at Michigan Tech having completed at least three semesters of full-time enrollment at Michigan Tech by the time the award begins.
- They must also have a minimum of two semesters of coursework remaining, though there is potential for flexibility to accommodate an internship or coop into the award timeframe.
- Applications are due March 15, but all applicants are encouraged to start early and consult with Alan Turnquist to help refine their ideas before applying.
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- Dr. Chelsea Schelly is looking for a graduate research assistant on an upcoming EPA STAR funded project.
- The study aims to analyze pathways for energy transitions considering issues of public health, economic opportunity, and energy justice.
- Social science research will include interviews, surveys, and community engagement to assess impacts of current energy systems and services and identify drivers for energy transitions at residential, industrial, and community scales.
- Students will be engaged with an interdisciplinary project team for at least two years, with an expected start of summer or fall 2023.
- Soon to be graduate undergraduates who are interested in completing an MS in Sustainable Communities are eligible for consideration.
- Call for Papers for the Transformations Conference
- The conference will be held on Saturday March 4th at Wayne State University in Detroit.
- Transformations is organized by the Anthropology Graduate Student Organization (AGSO) at Wayne State.
- This year's theme is Accessibility.
- AGSO welcomes presentations from graduate and upper-level undergraduate students who are conducting research in any of the subfields of anthropology or involving anthropological perspectives in any allied discipline.
- The deadline for submissions is February 11th.
- Please RSVP to attend the conference.
- Student Research Grant Applications
- Student Research Grants are available for graduate and undergraduate students whose advisors are affiliated with the GLRC.
- The grants are intended to provide students an opportunity to gain experience in writing competitive grants and to perform research they would not be able to attempt due to funding limitations.
- Allowable expenditures may include supplies, services, equipment, travel, and personnel.
- Funded students are expected to participate/volunteer for at least one GLRC activity during the grant period.
- A final research report is due within 30 days of the grant end date.
- Please read the GLRC Student Research Grants Guide for further information about grant terms, proposal instructions, and evaluation criteria.
- Please submit the application and proposal as one PDF document to Jackie Gebhardt at grlcadmin-l@mtu.edu by the end of the day on March 1st.
- Climate Leaders Academy
- CLA is a two-semester program with the goal of providing formal climate training and professional development to fellows through direct engagement with national and international climate change frameworks, formalized mentoring and collaboration with a diverse set of institutions.
- CLA-Fellows will be entitled to the following benefits:
- $10,000 stipend ($5,000 per semester)
- Four transferable course credits
- All travel expenses covered (to and from kickoff workshop, climate change conferences, etc.)
- One-on-one mentoring by a CLA faculty member
- Tuition coverage for CLA course
- Applications are due March 15 at 11:59 p.m. CDT.
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