March 8, 2018

More people, limited resources. Environmental ethicists consider best practices for conflict resolution and fairness when people and the environment are at odds.

Conservation is increasingly stymied by people who object to particular conservation actions—claiming them unfair for one reason or another. In a new paper published in Biological Conservation (DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2018.02.022), the authors propose principles for resolving such conflicts—principles that redress shortcomings in existing methods for addressing conservation conflicts.

“Social justice and conservation each represent great values of our society,” says John Vucetich, professor of ecology at Michigan Technological University, who led the study. "We aimed to examine those values from first principles to better understand how to respond when social justice and conservation seem to conflict.” 

Read the full story on mtu.edu/news.

Michigan Tech faculty, staff and students received awards tallying $73,675 in funding through the Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC), sponsored by NASA for the 2018-19 funding cycle.

Undergraduates receiving $2,500 research fellowships:

• Alex Oliver (BME): "Evaluating Biodegradable Zinc Stent Materials,” with Jeremy Goldman
• Katie Bristol (Applied Geophysics): “Investigation of the Solar Nebula’s Magnetic Field Strength from the Allende Meteorite Chondrules,” with Aleksey Smirnov

Graduate Students receiving $5,000 research fellowships:

• Erica Coscarelli (CEE): “Reaction Mechanisms for the Degradation of Trace Organic Contaminants through Advanced Oxidation Processes,” with Daisuke Minakata
• Brian Danhoff (Biology): “Use of Structure from Motion (SfM) Photogrammetry to Evaluate Fluvial Substrate,” with Casey Huckins
• Ian Greenlund (KIP): “Sleep in Space: Sleep Restriction, Neurovascular Control and Orthostatic Intolerance,” with Jason Carter
• Sanna Mairet (GME): “Investigating the Relationship between Volcanic Sulfur Dioxide Concentrations and Human Population and Land Use Changes through Geographic Visualization,” with Simon Carn
• Brandi Petryk (GME): “The Origin of an Archean Batholith – Michigan’s Upper Peninsula,” with Chad Deering
• Kevin Phillips (KIP): “Cold Water Therapy as a Recovery Intervention during Spaceflight Operations,” with Steven Elmer and Tejin Yoon
• Emily Shaw (CEE): “Mapping the Co-Distribution of Mercury and Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Lakes,” with Noel Urban

Faculty and staff members receiving $5,000 or more for pre-college, public outreach, teacher training, faculty seed and/or augmentation programs include:

• Joan Chadde (CEE): “STEM Career Explorations for Detroit High School Students” (includes augmentation) Pre-college program
• Brian Doughty (CEE): “Technology and Outdoor Learning” Pre-college program
• Steve Elmer (KIP): “Introducing Space Medicine to High School Students in the Upper Peninsula” Pre-college program
• Amy Lark (CLS): “Teacher Training: The Next Generation Science Standards in Theory and Practice” Teacher Training Program
• Adrienne Minerick (COE): “Microfluidic Dynamic Cell Concentration Tuner for Medical Diagnostics” Faculty Seed Program
• Lorelle Meadows (Pavlis Honors College): MSGC Administrative award ($3,675)

NASA implemented the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program in 1989 to provide funding for research, education and public outreach in space-related science and technology. The program has 52 university-based consortia in the United States and Puerto Rico.

As an affiliate of the Michigan Consortium, Michigan Tech has been an active participant in MSGC for approximately 20 years. MSGC funding is administered through MTU’s Pavlis Honors College. For more information, contact Paige Hackney in the Pavlis Honors College, call 7-4371, or visit the MSGC website. 

Michigan Tech’s new Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope lets researchers zoom in to understand the big picture at the atomic scale.

Housed in a specially constructed brick building at the south end of Michigan Tech’s campus is the FEI 200kV Titan Themis Scanning Transmission Electron Microscope (S-TEM). One of only two Titans in the state of Michigan, the microscope is capable of imaging at the atomic scale, providing chemical information from a sample and can also operate as a transmission electron microscope.

Such a powerful tool is one of the newest in the Applied Chemical and Morphological Analysis Laboratory’s (ACMAL) arsenal.

Read more on mtu.edu/news.

Registration for the UP-Teaching and Learning Conference on Friday, May 11 at Northern Michigan University is now open. Michigan Tech instructors should use this form to register in order to ensure their $50 registration fee is covered by their academic Dean.

The North Coast Grill and Deli, along with Dining Services, will be featuring pho from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. tomorrow (March 9). Try a bowl of authentic Vietnamese pho and build your own with fresh ingredients, choice of protein and choice of rice, soba or ramen noodles over a warm chicken or vegetable broth.

After school science and engineering classes are being offered for elementary and middle-school students, beginning March 19. There are six sessions running from 4 to 5:30 p.m. There will be no classes during the K-12 Spring Break, March 26-30. These hands-on explorations are taught by Michigan Tech science and engineering students and staff at the Great Lakes Research Center. This spring's classes are:

• Engineering Challenges (Grades 1-2, meets Mondays). Engineering is hands on and fun for youngsters, as they design and build all kinds of objects and structures, from roller coasters to a chair that will hold their own weight, to the best way to assemble a Big Mac.
• The Science of Food: The Chemistry and Biology of What We Eat (Grades 3-5, meets Tuesdays). Explore the science behind what we eat and cook by looking at what keeps pickles from going bad, makes bread rise and caramel sweet. Each week, we’ll learn about the science going on in our kitchens while we make delicious treats.
• Marvelous Minerals (Grades 6-8, meets Wednesdays. Bus drops off at Seaman Mineral Museum). Explore the world-class A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum and discover the stunning properties of minerals through chemistry and art. Make connections of how minerals are essential for science and industry and a part of our everyday lives. Discover spectacular Keweenaw minerals.
• Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (Grades 6-8, meets Mondays). Students collect data using technology, then use computers to solve real-world problems and make maps to visually represent their data. Find out how GIS is used and create a webmap for a webpage. This fast growing technology is used in many career fields. Returning students will be challenged with new problems to solve and new applications of their skills. 

The cost of each session is $75 for grades 1-5 and $90 for grades 6-8. Register by Friday, March 16. You can register online. Payments can be made by credit card here. Your space is not reserved until payment has been received. If you have questions, call 7-3341 or email Joan Chadde. 

Note: The Houghton Elementary School bus will drop off students at the GLRC or the Seaman Mineral Museum by 3:45 p.m. Transportation from Houghton Elementary School will be provided by Lamers at no additional cost.

The Pavlis Honors College reminds faculty that URIP 2018-19 applications are due March 28. 

There are two tracks for faculty mentors to consider:

• Faculty in Health-Related Fields are invited to identify an undergraduate research intern with any amount of prior experience - Portage Health Foundation Scholars
• Faculty in any discipline are invited to identify an undergraduate intern that is relatively new to research or scholarship (less than 6 months) - Pavlis Young Investigators 

The internship program is open to any undergraduate student on campus. Faculty are welcome to apply with students with whom they are already working. 

The program consists of a 20-week internship (mid-September through mid-March) as well as professional development activities centered on academic research and scholarship.   

The Pavlis Honors College will provide $800 in funding for the student intern, with the expectation that faculty will provide matching funds to be dispensed concurrently, resulting in a total of $1600 (or $10/hr for 8 hours per week for a period of 20 weeks).

Faculty may make use of research funds, IRAD, startup packages, or consult their chairs, deans or center/institute management to identify the source of their match. 

Details regarding the Undergraduate Research Internship Program (URIP) application process can be found here.

The Undergraduate Research Internship Program is made possible by generous donations from the Portage Health Foundation and with the support of the Pavlis Honors College.

The Michigan Tech Huskies Nordic Ski Team is set for its first competition at the NCAA Skiing Championships in Steamboat Springs, Colo. hosted by the University of Colorado. The Huskies will participate in the classic races today (March 8) followed by the freestyle event Saturday (March 10).

The Tech men's team qualified a full roster of three student-athletes. Gaspard Cuenot, Tom Bye and Reid Goble will compete.

On the women's side, Sarah Goble and Amanda Kautzer will represent Tech.

The classic races begin today with the women's five-kilometer race at 11 a.m. The men's classic 10-kilometer race will follow at 1 p.m. The Huskies will have a day of rest between events. The freestyle races will be held on Saturday with the men's kilometer race at 11 a.m. with the women's 15-kilometer race following at 1 p.m. All times are EST.

The classic races can be viewed here. The freestyle races can be viewed here.

Michigan Tech travels to No. 3 Minnesota State for a WCHA Semifinal best-of-three series this weekend in Mankato. It is the second season in a row the two teams will meet in the WCHA Semifinal. Tech won last year's series with a 4-1 victory in Game 3 at the MacInnes Student Ice Arena.

The puck drops at 8:07 p.m. at the Verizon Center tomorrow (March 9) and Saturday, and if necessary, Sunday.

In the other Semifinal series, No. 19 Northern Michigan hosts No. 17 Bowling Green. The WCHA Championship Game is on March 17 at the highest remaining seed. Tech is 19-15-5 overall and MSU is 28-7-1.

The games can be heard on 93.5 FM, streamed on Pasty.com and on the TuneIn Radio App. You can watch the games on WCHA.tv.

The Institute of Computing and Cybersystems (ICC) will host James Keller from 3 to 4 p.m. tomorrow (March 9) in Rekhi 214.

Keller will present a lecture titled "Recognition Technology: Lotfi’s Look to the Future From the Late 1990s." Keller holds the University of Missouri Curators’ Distinguished Professorship in the electrical and computer engineering and computer science departments on the Columbia campus. He is also the R. L. Tatum Professor in the College of Engineering.

His research interests center on computational intelligence: fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic, neural networks and evolutionary computation with a focus on problems in computer vision, pattern recognition and information fusion including bioinformatics, spatial reasoning in robotics, geospatial intelligence, sensor and information analysis in technology for eldercare, and landmine detection. 

Keller is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a Fellow of the International Fuzzy Systems Association (IFSA) and a past president of the North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society (NAFIPS). He has coauthored around 500 technical publications.

A full bio and abstract can be found online. Refreshments will be served.

Job Postings for Thursday, March 8, 2018

Staff and faculty job descriptions are available in Human Resources.  For more information regarding staff positions, call 7-2280 or email jobs@mtu.edu. For more information regarding faculty positions, contact the academic department in which the position is posted.​

Campus Visit Coordinator​, ​Admissions. ​Apply online.

Associate Director of Residential Life, ​Housing and Residential Life.​ Apply online.

Baker​, ​Dining Services. ​AFSCME Posting 3/8/2018 - 3/14/2018. External applicants will not be reviewed until after all internal applicants. ​Apply online.

Food Service Helper​, ​Dining Services. ​AFSCME Posting 3/8/2018 - 3/14/2018. External applicants will not be reviewed until after all internal applicants. ​Apply online.

Custodian​, ​Facilities. ​AFSCME Posting 3/8/2018 - 3/14/2018. External applicants will not be reviewed until after all internal applicants. Apply online.

Assistant/Associate/Museum Manager, AE Seaman Mineral Museum. ​Apply online.​

Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer, which includes providing equal opportunity for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities.

"Embracing Failure" Faculty Learning Circle Session Tomorrow

The William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning and the Pavlis Honors College are co-sponsoring a faculty learning circle this spring entitled “Embracing Failure.”

During Spring Break (March 12-16), Chemstores will have reduced hours from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

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African Dance Night Tonight

The African Student Association will have its annual African Dance Night at 7 p.m. tonight (March 8) in the Memorial Union Alumni Lounge. The event is free but donations will be accepted.

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ME-EM Graduate Seminar Speaker Today

 The next Graduate Seminar Speaker Series will be held at 4 p.m. today (March 8) in EERC 103.

Alex Cocco will present "Analytical Modeling of Transport Phenomena in 3-D Microstructural Networks Found in Energy Materials."

Cocco is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Electrochemistry Branch of the Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate at the United States Army Research Laboratory.

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Lindsay Hiltunen, University archivist with the Michigan Tech Archives, was recently appointed board member for the Michigan Oral History Association and appointed as chair of MOHA's Education Committee. She will serve a two-year term.

Hiltunen recently joined the Legislator's Research Team, which is under the leadership of the Issues and Advocacy Section of the Society of American Archivists. The team monitors and reports on recent legislative activity related to archives and archivists.

To have your event automatically appear, please submit them to the University Events Calendar.

Always Room for Rain

March 8, 8:00 a.m–8:00 p.m

Exhibit reception: FRI Mar 2, 5:00 PM - 6:30pm Conversation with the artists: 5:30pm free Gallery Hours: M-F 8 AM - 8 PM Sat 1 PM - 8 PM This exhibit...

C-Cubed Luncheon

March 8, 11:30 a.m–1:30 p.m

All faculty and staff, along with their guests, are invited to C-Cubed (Conversation, Community, Collegiality) lunches, which take place on Thursdays and Fridays during the...

Diverse Dialogues

March 8, 12:00 p.m–1:30 p.m

Changing the Conversation: Women in STEM "The Diverse Dialogues series will provide opportunities for students, faculty, and staff to have conversations about relevant...

Extended Sampling Method in Inverse Scattering

March 8, 1:05 p.m–1:55 p.m

Speaker: Juan Liu, Associate Professor, Jinan University Abstract: A new sampling method for inverse scattering problems is proposed to process far field data of one...

PhD Defense: Xiaoyu Liang

March 8, 2:00 p.m–3:00 p.m

Mathematical Sciences Co-advisors: Shuanglin Zhang and Qiuying Sha Joint Analysis of Multiple Phenotypes in Association Studies

Study Abroad 101

March 8, 2:00 p.m

Are you interested in studying abroad but you don't know where to start? Attend a Study Abroad 101 session to learn about Michigan Tech's study abroad programs, and how to...

CPT 101

March 8, 3:00 p.m–3:30 p.m

Learn the basics of Curricular Practical Training (CPT), which permits international students to go on co-ops. Information includes when and how to apply, eligibility...

Analytical Modeling of Transport Phenomena

March 8, 4:00 p.m

in 3-D Microstructural Networks found in Energy Materials ME-EM Graduate Seminar Speaker Series proudly presents: Dr. Alex Cocco United States Army Research Lab Abstract:...

Come In, We're Open, Opening Reception

March 8, 5:00 p.m–6:30 p.m

A mid-semester showcase of student works or art in-progress in Rozsa gallery b. The exhibit features work by students participating in Project Learning Lab, VPA’s alternative...

(Skiing) NCAA National Championship - DU, Steamboat Springs, CO

March 8, all day

NCAA National Championship - DU, Steamboat Springs, CO 3/8/18: 5/10K INT Classic 3/10/18: 15/20K MST Freestyle