Ice to Air

Imagine vacationing in an area surrounded by stunning natural scenery—tall trees, glassy lakes, mountains rising in the background—and taking a photo of just a single branch or leaf. It would give a thoroughly incomplete picture of the landscape around you.

The same is true for environmental research. That’s why Michigan Tech faculty-researchers study the world from bottom to top. Yes, our scientists and research teams focus on specific issues—ice formation, aerosol pollutants, or cloud cover, for example. But their work, when combined, creates a complete snapshot of the world around us.

submersible for under-ice research

Underwater, Under Ice

The Great Lakes Research Center has a polar climate literally right outside its door, and it has become a hub for under-ice research.


trees planted that have grown into a forest

Making Greener Leaner

Facing a crossroads of energy production and consumption, Kathleen Halvorsen is making woody biomass work for society and the environment.


checking the temperature of plants in Puerto Rico

How Warm is Too Warm?

Researcher Molly Cavaleri turns up the heat in Puerto Rico's El Yunque National Forest to determine how the climate warming trend is affecting tropical rainforests.


cloud chamber lab

Cloud Control

Atmospheric science researchers at Michigan Tech no longer have to cross their fingers for cooperative weather—the University's innovative new cloud chamber allows them to head into the lab and make their own.


testing facility near volcano

Up in the Air

Atop a volcanic peak deep in the eastern Atlantic, Tech researchers sample and study aerosol particles—and determine how they may affect Earth's climate.


 

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.