May 6, 2024

Alongside various partners, Michigan Technological University has been awarded the prestigious Governor’s Award for Historic Preservation for leading the development of the Keweenaw Time Traveler — a digital online atlas of Michigan’s Copper Country recognized as a significant contribution to historic preservation efforts in the Keweenaw Peninsula.

The Keweenaw Time Traveler project, or KeTT, is led by researchers and students from MTU’s Department of Social Sciences, Geospatial Research Facility and the Michigan Tech Archives, in collaboration with partners Monte Consulting, the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw and Keweenaw County Historical Society.

"The Governor's Award for Historic Preservation celebrates the collaborative spirit fueling MTU's Keweenaw Time Traveler project," said Don Lafreniere, KeTT program director and Department of Social Sciences chair. "We are very honored to have been recognized by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the State Historic Preservation Office for our work."

Read more about the award at Michigan Tech News.

The Department of Public Safety and Police Services is organizing an emergency management exercise on June 4 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. This exercise is crucial for testing emergency response procedures and ensuring the safety of the campus community.

Role Players Needed
Public Safety is seeking volunteers to act as role players during the exercise. As role players, you will simulate various scenarios (e.g., injured individuals, evacuees, concerned family members) to help emergency responders practice their skills. Your participation is essential in making this exercise as realistic as possible.

If you are interested in participating as a role player, please register on the Houghton County website. In the “Tags” text field, please write “Role Player.” Your commitment will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the exercise and the University’s overall emergency preparedness efforts.

If you have questions about the exercise or the details of being a role player, please feel free to reach out to Deputy Chief Reid DeVoge via email at rdevoge@mtu.edu.

Exercise Details:

• What: Emergency Management Exercise
• When: Tuesday, June 4, from 9:30-11:30 a.m.
• Where: Student Development Complex
• Register: Please register to be a role player for various scenarios (in the “Tags” text field, please write “Role Player”).

Tick Talk, the crowdsourcing tick collection project conducted last year at Michigan Tech, has returned for a second year. Tick collection has already begun for 2024.

MTU's Genomic Sequencing Lab wants ticks from you, your family and your pets. The goal of this project is to identify the prevalence of tick-borne illnesses in the Copper Country. Please bring any ticks you find to one of two collection boxes on the Michigan Tech campus:

• U. J. Noblet Forestry Building — Main Entrance
• Great Lakes Research Center — First Floor

Current Results
Results from the community tick submission so far are available on the Tick Talk Dashboard. If you have any questions, please contact lab lead Aimee Marceau at ahmarcea@mtu.edu.

• 174 blacklegged ticks and four brown dog ticks have been collected.
• 20% of the blacklegged ticks submitted tested positive for Lyme.

How to Remove and Preserve Ticks

1. Use clean, fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.
2. Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Don’t twist or jerk the tick; this can cause its mouth parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth parts with tweezers. If you cannot remove the mouth easily with tweezers, leave it alone and let the skin heal.
3. After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.
4. Never crush a tick with your fingers. Dispose of a live tick by:
   1. Placing it in a sealed plastic storage bag. Multiple ticks from the same location can be placed in the same bag.
   2. Once the tick is sealed inside the plastic storage bag, bring it to a drop-off point within eight hours or place the bag with the tick in a freezer until dropping it off at Michigan Tech.
5. Follow the directions at the drop-off site to ensure the tick is properly preserved.

Thanks to all the Michigan Tech faculty, staff and students who enjoyed a vibrant year of arts at the Rozsa! Now, the Rozsa is shifting to summer hours until the fall semester begins.

Rozsa Summer Hours
Effective now through Aug. 25.

• Rozsa Box Office: Tuesday to Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and one hour before events. Closed from June 23 to July 31 to prepare for the 2024/25 season.

• Rozsa Lobby and Administrative Offices: Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Lobby will open one hour before events. Closed during academic recesses.

• Rozsa Art Galleries: Closed for summer. Reopens with a new exhibition on Sept. 13.

Rozsa Summer Upgrades
Here are the upgrades we'll be working on to get ready for the 2024/2025 season. Thank you to our amazing audience and the Rozsa’s Circle of Supporters for making these changes possible.

• Accessibility Upgrades: Main floor accessibility-friendly restrooms and a private lactation space made possible by generous gifts from the Janet Locatelli Fund and the Wheeler Estate.

• New Stage Floor: A brand-new surface for our performers will be a big improvement for our dancers, acrobats and many other touring and local performers.

• Sensory Inclusivity: Partnering with KultureCity, the nation's leading nonprofit on sensory accessibility and acceptance for those with invisible disabilities, taking steps to become their first Sensory Inclusive™ Certified organization in the Upper Peninsula! This was made possible through a gift made in honor of recent Michigan Tech grad Aspen Stampfler ’24.

Rozsa Summer Events
Take a look at the community events happening at the Rozsa this summer, and be the first to know about the 2024/2025 Rozsa Presenting Series season by joining the Rozsa Newsletter.

Over 100 local students in grades 10 and 11 came to campus May 1 to engage in a day of exploring health care careers and majors. The Health Careers Expo event was hosted jointly by the Center for Educational Outreach’s MI GEAR UP program and the College of Sciences and Arts (CSA) to spark interest in high-demand health care fields.

During the event, participants engaged with Michigan Tech faculty, staff and students through nearly two dozen interactive breakout sessions covering seven subject areas. They interacted with a panel of industry professionals in a variety of fields, including a chiropractor, medical lab scientist, nurse practitioner, physical therapist, psychiatrist and surgeon.

Additionally, students attended a career fair with exhibitors representing local health care providers, CSA majors, Admissions, Career Services, MTU EMS, Army ROTC, the Pre-Health Student Association and others. Students ended the day with a field trip to one of three regional hospitals: UP Health System – Portage, Aspirus Keweenaw or Baraga County Memorial Hospital.

"We were excited to share many different pathways available to students interested in a health care career and some of the resources available in the community to help them start on their journeys," said Kemmy Taylor, Pre-Health Programs director. "Students also learned about the different majors a technological university like Tech offers to help them get a jump on these in-demand and critical health professions."

The Health Careers Expo was made possible through collaboration and effort from across campus and the surrounding region. Thank you to all those who came together to support the event — your participation, effort and enthusiasm helped broaden students’ awareness and understanding of future health careers and how they can begin their journey on a health career path at Michigan Tech, and showcased Michigan Tech’s strong commitment to community partnership.

Michigan GEAR UP, or Michigan Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (MI GEAR UP), is a college access initiative providing students and families the support and resources they need for college success (retrieved from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity).

The Michigan Tech volleyball team announced its 2024 schedule on Friday (May 3). The Huskies will play 28 matches in the fall with 17 GLIAC contests and 12 games at the SDC Gym. Eight of their opponents went to the NCAA Tournament last season and seven were ranked in the AVCA Top 25.

Tech will play three teams from the RMAC and two from the NSIC — two of the better volleyball conferences in Division II. Other strong nonconference opponents are Gannon — an annual top team in the PSAC, and for the first-time ever, from the Peach Belt Conference, Lander, which has made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Huskies also host former GLIAC foe and current GMAC power Findlay, who the Huskies bested last season in a 3-2 thriller at the Midwest Crossover.

See MTU volleyball's 2024 schedule at Michigan Tech Athletics.

Yu Cai (AC/ICC) was interviewed by WLUC TV6 in a segment about the success of CyberHuskies students in spring 2024 National Cyber League individual and team competitions. CyberHuskies is a team of Houghton High School and Houghton Middle School students learning cybersecurity skills from MTU faculty and students. The story was picked up from the Computing News Blog.

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The Daily Mining Gazette, WZMQ 19 News and Michigan Business Network mentioned Michigan Tech’s Department of Social Sciences, Geospatial Research Facility and University Archives as awardees honored at the 21st Governor’s Awards for Historic Preservation event, hosted by the State Historic Preservation Office last Thursday (May 2) in Lansing. The award was announced by Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II in a news release.

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The Daily Mining Gazette mentioned the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts in a profile of Mary Jennings, the Rozsa’s former director. The Rozsa was also mentioned by WXMI FOX 17 in a segment interviewing Jennings about her new role as executive director of the Grand Rapids Ballet.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Summer Course Now Open

The Graduate School is assisting graduate students who wish to apply for the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Support includes Zoom workshops, a Canvas course and one-on-one writing support.

The upcoming award year solicitation will be available in July at NSF’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program website.

Per the previous year’s solicitation, fellowship recipients earn an annual stipend of $37,000 and a $16,000 cost-of-education allowance. To be eligible, applicants must be a U.S. citizen, national or permanent resident; have never previously applied to GRFP while enrolled in a graduate degree program; have never earned a master’s or professional degree in any field; and have completed no more than one academic year in a graduate degree-granting program. Application deadlines begin in mid-October.

The Graduate School is offering a self-paced online course to support NSF GRFP applicants so they can begin working on applications over the summer. Students who appear to be eligible will be emailed with an invitation to join the course.

See the GRFP site for more details. Questions? Contact Sarah Isaacson, NSF GRFP support coordinator, at sisaacso@mtu.edu.

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