Administration
- Director, Great Lakes Research Center
- Director, Institute of Computing and Cybersystems
- William and Gloria Jackson Professor
- thavens@mtu.edu
- 906-487-3115
- GLRC 307
Links of Interest
Areas of Interest
- Artificial Intelligence
- Machine Learning
- Signal and Image Processing
- Sensor and Data Fusion
- Heterogeneous Data Mining
Elizabeth Hoy
- Director, Business and Program Development
- Great Lakes Research Center
- elizabeth@mtu.edu
- 906-487-1208
- GLRC 321
Specialties
- Pre-award Proposal Development and Budgeting Support
- Post Award Project Administration
- Institute and Department Budget Administration
- Institute and Department Reporting
- Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships
"Start from a place of "we"; practice proactive sharing; foster personal awareness; be the educator, be the learner; live the agreements"
—Five Agreements of Organizational Sensitivity
—Five Agreements of Organizational Sensitivity
Jackie Gebhardt, PMP
- Institute Manager, Great Lakes Research Center
- jjgebhar@mtu.edu
- 906-487-3586
- GLRC 319
Roles and Areas of Responsibility
- Pre-Award Proposal Development and Budgeting Support
- Post Award Project Management
- Implementation of Institute Initiatives
- Website Development
Rachel Rulison
- Department Coordinator, Great Lakes Research Center
- rmhether@mtu.edu
- 906-487-2043
- GLRC 320
Roles and Areas of Responsibility
-
Department Payroll and Timesheets
- Financial Transactions
- Website Maintenance
- Purchase Requisitions and Invoices
- Department/Shared Facilities Data/Reports
- GLRC Events
Katie Gray
- Logistics Coordinator, Great Lakes Research Center
- kmrichar@mtu.edu
- 906-487-3504
- GLRC 318
Roles and Areas of Responsibility
- Safety Liaison
- Pre-award Proposal Development Support
- Facility Space Coordination
- Event Planning and Management
Beth Techtmann
- Research Communications Coordinator
- Great Lakes Research Center
- Institute of Computing and Cybersystems
- btechtma@mtu.edu
- 906-487-2713
- GLRC 312
Roles and Areas of Responsibility
- Research Communications
- Graphic Design Support
- Marketing Materials
- Content Development for Social Media
- Pre-Award Proposal Development Support
- Website Development
Research Scientists
- Associate Research Scientist, Great Lakes Research Center
- Instructor, Psychology and Human Factors
Areas of Expertise
- Design and implementation of professional development for K-12 and undergraduate STEM teachers
- K-12 STEM education research
- Program evaluation
Research Interests
- Instructional practices that support environmental literacy and stewardship
- Integration of computing into STEM education
- Teachers beliefs about reforms-based science instruction including nature of science, inquiry, engineering, Next Generation Science Standards, and technology integration
- Professional development elements (remote and face-to-face) that support instructional change, teacher leadership and reforms-based science instruction
- Using levels of inquiry to support teachers' understanding and integration of mathematical and scientific inquiry in k-12 education
- Teachers' understandings regarding key concepts in science including respiration and photosynthesis
- Assistant Research Scientist, Great Lakes Research Center
Area of Expertise
- Hydrodynamic modeling
- Regional climate modeling
- Physical limnology
- Nearshore processing
Research Interests
- Great Lakes cross-scale hydrodynamics
- Integrated Earth modeling system
- Long-term climate change and projection over the Great Lakes
- Short-term hydrodynamic forecasting in the Great Lakes
- Interactions between atmospheric and lake processing
- Assistant Research Scientist, Great Lakes Research Center
- bkopec@mtu.edu
- 906-487-1144
- GLRC 221
Links of Interest
Research Interests
- Arctic water cycle
- Water isotope geochemistry
- Ice-ocean/lake-atmosphere interactions
- Ocean/lake water mass partitioning
-
Impacts of changing cryosphere on hydrologic systems
- Director, Marine Engineering Laboratory
- Research Professor, MAE, and Adjunct Professor, GMES
Research Interests
- Large scale field experimentation in the Inland Seas of the Great Lakes and coastal oceans
- Nearshore hydrodynamics and prediction
- Autonomous and semi-autonomous environmental monitoring platforms (surface and sub-surface)
- Underwater acoustic remote sensing
- Marine engineering
- Geosciences Research Scientist, Great Lakes Research Center
- ecvye@mtu.edu
- 906-487-1581
- GLRC 213
Areas of Interest
- Geosciences Education
- Geoconservation
- Geoheritage
- National Marine Sanctuary
- Great Lakes Indigenous Knowledge
- University-Indigenous Community Partnerships
Christopher Wojick
- Senior Researcher, Program Evaluation
- Great Lakes Research Center
- clwojick@mtu.edu
- GLRC
Research Staff
Sulihat Aloba
- Research Engineer
- Laboratory Manager, Environmental Biotechnology Lab
- soaloba@mtu.edu
- GLRC 112
Areas of Interest
- Sustainable Materials Conversion
- Analytical Chemistry and Instrumentation
- Experimental Design and Implementation
- Biofuels and Biomaterials Development
- Process Optimization and Validation
- Project Management and Coordination
- Assistant Director, Marine Operations
- Manager, Marine Research Assets Shared Facility
- jameya@mtu.edu
- 906-487-2914
- GLRC 309
Specialties
- Oversee research buoys
- Maintain and repair Remote Operated Vehicles
- Maintain R/V Agassiz to USCG standards
- Maintain and operate survey vessels
- Provide electrical and mechanical support of specialized research equipment
- Expanded Biography
- Research Engineer
Specialties
- Underwater acoustic remote sensing
- Design, fabrication, testing & utilization of prototype field deployable instruments
-
Application and deployment of advanced technologies and integrated observing systems
-
Quality assurance and control of in-situ data
- Provide strategic scientific and engineering support to partners
- Scientific scuba diving
Research Interests
- Surface and underwater autonomous or remotely operated research platforms
- Acoustic signal processing
- Optical engineering
- Marine engineering
- Business water risk
Anthony J. Geglio
- Research Engineer II
Areas of Interest
- Machine Learning
- Object Detection
- Image Processing
- GIS
Ronald Gnadinger
- Research Technician I
- rong@mtu.edu
- 906-370-8733
- GLRC B001
Links of Interest
Roles and Responsibilities
- Support GLRC research programs
- Support design, fabrication, testing & utilization of prototype field deployable instruments
- Senior Research Engineer
- Relief Captain
- hmhender@mtu.edu
- 906-487-1584
- GLRC 305
Areas of Expertise
- Limnology and physical oceanography
- Application, fabrication, and deployment of advanced technology and integrated observing systems
- Surface and underwater autonomous or remotely operated research platforms
- Meteorological and biogeochemical sensor instrumentation
- Quality assurance and control of in-situ data
- USCG 100 GRT Master Captain
Research Interests
- Establishment of long-term climate observations
- Great Lakes acidification
- Ship based flow-through systems
- Nutrient cycling and subsequent productivity
- Advanced technologies for increasing public safety
- Data science and tool building
- Research Engineer
Areas of Interest
- Pattern Recognition and Machine Learning
- Image Processing
- Data Science and Analytics
Walker H. Nelson
- Research Engineer II
- wnelson@mtu.edu
- 906-487-0007
- GLRC 308
Areas of Interest
- Signal processing
- Remote sensing
- Machine learning
- Data systems
Malik Sankofa
- Laboratory Technician, Environmental Biotechnology Lab
- msankofa@mtu.edu
- GLRC 114
Areas of Interest
- Bioinformatics
- Microbial ecology
- Plant-microbe interactions
- Community structure
- Research Engineer III, Great Lakes Research Center
- sasenczy@mtu.edu
- 906-487-1064
- GLRC 317
Specialties
- Program Management
- Proposal Development
- Technology Commercialization
Research Interests
- Acoustics and Vibrations
- Thermoacoustics
- Carbon Nanotube Speaker Design and Fabrication
- Underwater Acoustics
- Active Noise Control
- Image and Signal Processing
- Autonomous Vehicles
Dre Senyk
- Laboratory Technician, Environmental Biotechnology Lab
- asenyk@mtu.edu
- GLRC 112
Areas of Interest
- Microbial Biotechnology
- Material Upcycling
- Sustainable Agriculture
- Environmental Remediation
- Apiculture and Pollinator Health
- Research Facility Organization
- Research Engineer, Great Lakes Research Center
- Relief Captain, Great Lakes Research Center
- tmwhite@mtu.edu
- 906-487-2877
- GLRC 310
Specialties
- Responsible for administration of the Marine Autonomy Research Site and Smart Ships Coalition and coordination with the Marine Research Assets Shared Use Facility (MRAF) in support of client needs.
- Provide scientific and engineering support to faculty, staff, partners, and sponsors with expertise in design, manufacturing, and integration of marine systems. Support budget and proposal development, project management, and strategic planning.
- Over 10 years' experience as a licensed captain on the Great Lakes with expertise in navigation systems, marine electronics, mechanical systems, and maintenance, repair, and operations.
- Expanded Biography.
Geospatial Research Center
- Assistant Director, Geospatial Research Facility
- rywillia@mtu.edu
- 906-487-1485
- GLRC 313
Areas of Expertise
- Geographic Information Systems
- Database Development
- GIS Tool and Process Development
- Integrating Web, GIS, Database and Analytics Tools
- Senior Geospatial Research Scientist
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Social Sciences
- djtrepal@mtu.edu
- 906-487-3580
- GLRC 303
Education
- PhD, Industrial Heritage and Archaeology, Michigan Technological University
- MS, Industrial Archaeology, Michigan Technological University
- BS, Anthropology and History, Cleveland State University
Research Interests
- Industrial and Urban Archaeology
- Historical GIS
- Deindustrialization
- Industrial Landscapes
- The Archaeology of Brownfields
- Spatial Analysis of Historical Industrial Pollutants
- Big Data Approaches to Archaeology
- Publicly-engaged Scholarship
- Geospatial Research Scientist
- djlizzad@mtu.edu
- 906-487-3418
- GLRC 303 and 318
Areas of Expertise
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Geostatistical Analysis
- Lake Superior Geology, Coastal Geomorphology, and Geoheritage
- GPS, GIS Data Collector Applications, and Mapping Technologies
- Web-based GIS Data Dissemination and Applications
- Interdisciplinary GIS Project Management
- GIS Data Librarian
- rcowling@mtu.edu
- GLRC 303/Library 102B
Areas of Expertise
- Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Geospatial Metadata
- Cartography
- Web-based GIS application development
- Geospatial data management, discovery, and dissemination
Mi-STAR
Marianne Semones
- Mi-STAR Program Director and Senior Research Scientist
Gregg Bluth
- Mi-STAR Senior Research Scientist: Assessment and Curriculum
- Adjunct Professor, Geological and Mining Engineering
Links of Interest
- Science Education
- Science Assessment Development
Stephanie Tubman
- Mi-STAR Senior Research Scientist
Research Interests
- Teacher leadership development
- Science teacher beliefs, attitudes, and practices around effective science instruction
- Decision-making and power sharing in instructional and organizational settings
Specialties
- Design of curriculum for Next Generation Science Standards in the middle (6-8) and high school (9-12) gradebands
- Design and evaluation of inquiry-based curriculum for grades 6-12
- Environmental and place-based education
- Integration of Next Generation Science Standards into place-based educational frameworks
- Design and implementation of professional learning for STEM educators
- Coaching and facilitation of teacher leaders
- Earth science, water resource, and natural hazards education
- Project Management
Chris Geerer
- Mi-STAR Professional Learning Coordinator
- Associate Research Scientist
Specialties
- K-12 Educational Leadership
- K-12 Professional Development
- K-12 Science Education
Tony Matthys
- Research Scientist, Mi-STAR Curriculum
Specialties
- K-12 NGSS curricular design
- Problem Based Learning
- Development of Interactive Models and Simulations
Lindsey M Watch
- Mi-STAR Research Scientist
Research Interests
- STEM/CS/CT K-12 curricular integration
- STEM educator professional development
Specialties
- K-12 NGSS curricular design
- Professional development for STEM educators
- Place-based environmental education
Postdoctoral Scholars
- Postdoctoral Scholar
- czhao4@mtu.edu
- GLRC 210
Research Interests
- Great Lakes hydrodynamic modeling and data assimilation
- Coastal disaster prevention and mitigation
- Waves and currents interaction with vegetation
- Sediment transport in vegetated regions
Visiting Scholars
- Visiting Scholar
- ychen25@mtu.edu
- GLRC 210
Research Area
Utilizing machine learning techniques for the Great Lakes system, particularly for the projections of water levels, waves, and coastal flooding regions