Kelley Christensen

Kelley Christensen

Contact

  • Science and Technology Publications Writer, University Marketing and Communications

Biography

Kelley writes university research stories and articles for university publications. She studied news-editorial journalism and American literature at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and holds a master's in technical communication from Montana Tech. She is pursuing her doctorate in environmental policy at Michigan Tech.

About Kelley

  • Her career includes writing for small-town newspapers in Montana and working as a public information officer, an events coordinator, and science editor for an IEEE publication, Earthzine.
  • She enjoys hiking and cross-country skiing with her family, reading voraciously, crocheting, and exploring the Keweenaw.

Recent Stories 

Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis: The Making of Vaccines

Researchers at Michigan Technological University are creating new processes to improve the second of three steps of vaccine manufacturing — purification — which often accounts for 50-70% of the manufacturing costs of a vaccine.

A vaccine for COVID-19 is still being developed — but when it is available, it will be manufactured in a standard three-step process. First, virus molecules for the vaccine are grown in cell cultures inside bioreactors. Second, the virus molecules are extracted from the cell cultures through a process called purification. Third, the vaccine is . . . Read More

Michigan Tech’s World Water Day Moves Online

The artwork

Just a week after moving instruction online for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester, Michigan Technological University will celebrate World Water Day in the same fashion. Keynote Speaker Watch Joellen Russell’s World Water Day keynote address via Zoom: . . . Read More

Radar and Risk in the Straits of Mackinac

Deploying high-frequency radar in one of Michigan’s most turbulent waterways.

The currents of the Straits of Mackinac are known for their volatility; they have for millennia pushed the birch bark canoes of Native Americans and voyageurs alike off course and forced lake freighters aground. The currents are also part of the complex lake system that links Lake Michigan to Lake Huron. Monitoring currents and waves in the . . . Read More

Solar Rising

From silicon chips to policy decisions: making solar energy affordable and accessible.

Cloudy with a chance of snow. Though some may regard this sort of forecast negatively, weather like this makes the Keweenaw the perfect location to test solar photovoltaics (PV) in less-than-ideal conditions. The interdisciplinary work encompasses all levels of solar development: improving panel materials, demonstrating how solar works in a home setting, . . . Read More