Center for Water and Society
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The Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society (MTCWS) was established in June of 2005 under the Sustainable Futures Institute (SFI) to provide the multidisciplinary perspectives and tools to manage water-related problems of local, regional, and international interest. MTCWS is a “virtual” Research Center. By virtual, we mean that the MTCWS will not occupy physical space, but will be a consortium of people at Michigan Tech whose focal point is water-related activities.

Mission Statement
The mission of the MTCWS is to support research, education, and outreach in all disciplines at Michigan Tech related to water issues. The goal is to establish Michigan Tech as a state, regional, national and international leader in these disciplines and, in particular, in interdisciplinary approaches to solving water-related problems. The objectives of the MTCWS are:

To serve as a focal point for instructional and research activities in water-related fields and water-related outreach activities across the Michigan Tech campus
To provide an organizational structure that supports continuing growth in water-related fields and outreach activities and encourage interdisciplinary projects
To support interdisciplinary graduate and undergraduate education and research in water related fields
To pursue external funding opportunities to support these objectives and to facilitate MTCWS participating faculty to obtain external support.

Membership
Membership is open to any academic faculty, research faculty, research staff, or outreach staff member of Michigan Tech who has an interest in water-related fields or outreach activities. Prospective members submit a simple statement of interest to the MTCWS Director. Once approved, membership is reevaluated every five years. Undergraduate and graduate students are offered student membership, which provides eligibility for MTCWS student grants and fellowships. Student membership is maintained until graduation or withdrawal from the university.

Focus of Center for First Five Years

Develop an identity for the MTCWS at Michigan Tech and beyond.
We will establish a web page to showcase water-related research, educational and outreach efforts at Michigan Tech. We will establish a seminar series which will have two critical missions: external speakers will give the Michigan Tech community views from outside the university and will expose those from outside the university to our efforts; internal speakers will serve to educate ourselves as to the array of water related activities on campus.
Establish Michigan Tech as the "think tank" for resolving water issues in the state of Michigan.
We anticipate that the first efforts will include holding workshops at Michigan Tech, involving individuals from Michigan Tech and invited experts. The focus of these workshops will be producing white papers on the critical water issues facing the state, including: continuing loss of wetlands in Michigan; ongoing challenges of creating viable new wetlands to mitigate wetland losses; effective ways to meet the economic needs of communities that enhance rather than impact local water resources; storm water runoff management; land use; watershed management; coastal zone management; development of monitoring techniques that can easily be utilized by citizens and local communities; and engaging the business community in promoting sustainable water use and protection.
Coalesce and expand international activities at Michigan Tech related to water issues;
by capitalizing on ongoing research on international water issues, the Peace Corps/Master’s International programs, the Sustainable Futures Institute, our ongoing work with the University of Sonora on water problems in Sonora, Mexico, and other relevant educational, research and outreach activities. A recent step is the submission of a preproposal to establish an NSF IGERT program on international water and sanitation.

Support and expand current K-12 and community education/outreach water-related activities at Michigan Tech;
especially activities of the Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education and the Center for Science and Environmental Outreach. We will encourage research and educational activities with a local focus, but also projects that focus on the Upper Peninsula, the Lake Superior watershed, Michigan, and the entire Great Lakes region. Our goal is to tie academic research to meeting the needs of pressing resource management and land use issues, and to make research relevant to meet the needs of K-12 students and teachers, local residents, and local governmental agencies and NGOs concerned with water resources.
Our education and outreach efforts will include the production of curricula and informational materials and the delivery of workshops and institutes that will increase public understanding and involvement in water-related decision-making.

Develop new degree programs and coursework and emphasize existing, unique educational offerings related to water.
The focus of these efforts is to enhance educational offerings related to water issues and to promote these offerings to recruit undergraduate and graduate students. We will seek to establish a new inter-departmental PhD program in water resources management that recognizes the interdisciplinary nature of water and requires students to take courses in at least two departments, such as biological sciences and engineering, or education and engineering. The program will encourage PhD dissertations that also address the multi-disciplinary aspects of water resource management. We believe that this PhD program could be developed as a program that is unique to the US and thus encourage applications from a diverse pool of prospective students. This program could include an international component that addresses the growing conflict over water availability, ownership, and impacts on water quality due to increasing industrial development in developing countries. We will also seek to establish a new concentration in environmental and water resource education that would focus on education communities, local decision-makers, teachers, and non-formal educators about the hydrologic function, management, and monitoring of groundwater, stream monitoring, wetlands, lake monitoring, drinking water, wastewater treatment, threats from air pollutants, and more. This year, we will introduce a perspectives course called “Water and Society.” The intent of the course will be to encourage undergraduates to consider the multi-disciplinary aspects of water issues. The course also is intended to be established as a distribution course.

 

Administration
Director
Alex S. Mayer
asmayer@mtu.edu
Geological & Mining Engineering & Science

Administrative Assistant

Carol J. Asiala
cjasiala@mtu.edu
Geological & Mining Engineering & Science


Advisory Committee

Nancy A. Auer
naauer@mtu.edu
Biological Sciences
Sarah A. Green
sgreen@mtu.edu
Chemistry
Noel R. Urban
nurban@mtu.edu
Civil & Environmental Engineering
Christine S. Anderson
csanders@mtu.edu
Educational Opportunity
John S. Gierke
jsgierke@mtu.edu
Geological & Mining Engineering & Science
R. Craig Waddell
cwaddell@mtu.edu
Humanities
John W. Sutherland
jwsuther@mtu.edu
Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Sustainable Futures Institute
William S. Brefflel
wsbreffl@mtu.edu
School of Business & Economics
Thomas G. Pypker
tgpypker@mtu.edu
School of Forest Resources & Environmental Science (SFRES)
Kathleen E. Halvorsen
kehalvor@mtu.edu
Social Sciences
Mary Ann Beckwith
mabeckwi@mtu.edu
Visual & Performing Arts
Joan F. Schumaker-Chadde
jchadde@mtu.edu
Western Upper Peninsula Center for Science, Mathematics & Environmental Education

About MTCWS / Research / Education / Outreach

Michigan Tech Center for Water and Society
Michigan Technological University
1400 Townsend Drive
Houghton, Michigan, 49931-1295, USA

Center E-mail: mtcws@mtu.edu

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